Wisconsin Health News

Covering Wisconsin faces funding cut  - Covering Wisconsin, the statewide agency that helps people sign up for health coverage, is warning that a federal funding cut will limit its work to help the public know insurance options and find financial help. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Friday that it will reduce money for the Affordable Care Act navigator program to $10 million annually. In plan year 2024, navigators received $98 million. CMS said the reduction will allow Healthcare.gov to “focus on more effective strategies,” arguing that performance data show that navigators are not “enrolling nearly enough people to justify the substantial amount of federal dollars previously spent on the program.” CMS also said that cutting the funding will save $360 million over four years and support lower premiums. The reduction is set to take effect for plan year 2026. Covering Wisconsin Director Allison Espeseth said Friday they did not have more details on what the planned cut means for Wisconsin. Last fall, Covering Wisconsin received $3.2 million. The announcement indicates that navigators in Healthcare.gov states will face a 90 percent cut. Espeseth said a big part of their work is raising public awareness. “A funding cut of this size will significantly limit our ability to help the public and other professionals in Wisconsin to simply know what health insurance coverage options are out there and how to get financial help,” she said. “We'll be further reduced in our capacity to offer people any assistance with enrolling, using their coverage to get care, learning how to pay for benefits and switching to a different plan when the time comes.” Espeseth noted that Healthcare.gov enrollment could drop, similar to when funding declined by 80 percent from 2017 to 2020.