The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Thursday it would extend the deadline for thousands of former BadgerCare beneficiaries to find other coverage options through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace as stipulated in the Affordable Care Act.
Last week U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., wrote a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services urging it to extend the deadline so Wisconsinites in a coverage gap could try to find other coverage options.
Baldwin added in the letter that Gov. Scott Walker’s decision to refuse federal funds for Wisconsin’s BadgerCare program made Wisconsin’s transition into the federal Marketplace problematic for tens of thousands of Wisconsinites who could be left uninsured.
“We are working to ensure people affected by the State’s change in Medicaid have the opportunity to enroll in Marketplace coverage,” CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in a statement. “Coverage options are now available to the limited number of people who are no longer eligible for BadgerCare, after the State made changes to its Medicaid program earlier this year.”
