Wisconsin GOP advances measure that would make state first to drug test for health benefits

MADISON - Wisconsin could become the first state in the nation to require needy but able-bodied adults to work and submit to drug tests to qualify for public health coverage, under a proposal advanced by lawmakers Thursday.

Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee outvoted Democrats 12-4 to approve these provisions in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget along with the bill's requirement that some parents on food stamps work in order to receive benefits.

But GOP lawmakers also required the Walker administration to get further sign-off from the budget panel once the plans have been fleshed out.

"The governor’s initiatives have been to help people move from dependence to independence. We’re going to support that initiative and that concept, except we do believe some of the ideas need further vetting," said Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette), co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee.

With the state’s unemployment rate now at 3.2%, Walker wants to move as many Wisconsin residents as possible into the workforce.

The GOP governor says his proposals only apply to able-bodied adults and offer training for the jobless and treatment for those who are on drugs. Critics say they will cost taxpayers more than they save, trigger costly lawsuits and fail to boost the state’s economy the way other investments might.

Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) pointed to the drug testing already happening in Wisconsin Works, or W-2, which aims to move poor people into jobs. As of March, about 1,900 W-2 participants had been screened for drugs, with only nine of those — less than one-half of 1% — referred for treatment and none successfully completing it, according to the Legislature's nonpartisan budget office.

"That is the track record of this drug testing across the nation. It's extremely costly and it's not effective," Taylor said. 

As state lawmakers consider Walker's proposals for the state’s BadgerCare Medicaid program, the governor is also asking President Donald Trump's administration to sign off on them.

Starting in April 2019, the changes could affect 148,000 childless adults in Wisconsin with incomes below the federal poverty level — $12,060 a year for a single adult. Republicans on the budget committee approved proposals to:

• Screen these BadgerCare applicants with questions about illegal drug use and then, based on their answers, test roughly 4,000 of them for it. Refusing or failing the test and then rejecting treatment would mean the applicants go at least six months without state coverage.
• Charge sliding scale premiums of $1 to $10 a month for single adults making between $2,533 and $12,060 a year. BadgerCare recipients would have a 12-month grace period to pay past due premiums but failure to pay could cost them six months of coverage. The payments can be made by family members or by the private Medicaid HMOs treating the patient.
• Give premium breaks to recipients who complete a health risk assessment and who don't engage in risky behaviors such as smoking, obesity and illegal drug use.
• Require able-bodied adults between 19 and 49 years old to work or get job training for at least 80 hours a month to receive BadgerCare. If they don’t, they would lose coverage after 48 months and have to wait six months to regain it. The provision would cost $19.7 million over two years and more after that.

In addition, the committee approved Walker's proposal to start a FoodShare pilot program to require parents with children ages 6 to 18 to meet work requirements similar to those approved in 2013 for childless adults. But the panel dropped a part of Walker's proposal to expand the pilot statewide by January 2020. 

The 2013 measure required beneficiaries to work 80 hours a month or receive some basic job training. So far, it's resulted in 18,300 able-bodied FoodShare participants in the state finding work and 70,400 state residents losing their federally funded benefits.

The panel also approved spending $1.3 million to require most parents without custody of their children — roughly 2,150 people — to pay their child support to be able to receive FoodShare benefits. The proposal would reverse a 2007 change made under then-Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat. 

The budget committee required the Walker administration to get later sign-off from the panel before implementing these food stamp provisions. 

Lawmakers are also set to spend $3.7 million to put in place an asset limit on FoodShare applicants of $25,000 — not including the person's home or cars.

The committee also voted to:

• Spend $500,000 a year to expand a program that helps pediatricians consult with psychiatrists about their patient's mental health — a recommendation last year by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin's Kids in Crisis series.
• Pay $39.6 million to end the waiting lists for long-term care for 2,200 children in Wisconsin with emotional problems or physical and mental disabilities.
• Increase state payments to nursing homes by 2% in each of the next two years and bump up rates by 1% in each year for facilities for the mentally disabled. 
• Spend just under $40 million over two years to provide increased payments for workers in FamilyCare and other programs who help the disabled and elderly in their daily lives.
• Spend $25 million in state money to increase payments to hospitals for rural and underserved patients.

Reporter Lillian Price of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Keegan Kyle of USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin contributed to this article.