The Department of Health Services froze enrollment in BadgerCare Basic, Wisconsin's low-income health-care plan, last week due to the program's $2 million deficit.
DHS Secretary Dennis G. Smith said in a statement the decision to freeze enrollment was ""unfortunate,"" but that BadgerCare Basic was accumulating debt rapidly, with payments for the first nine months outstripping revenue from premiums by $2 million.
""BadgerCare Basic was never intended to be funded with state taxpayer dollars,"" Smith said in a statement. ""Unfortunately, the design of the program and the decisions made by the previous administration were unsustainable.""
The BadgerCare Basic plan was introduced by Gov. Jim Doyle last year as a way to provide rudimentary coverage to low-income childless adults on the waitlist for the BadgerCare Core Plan. The program has been active since June 2010.
As it currently stands, there are 82,000 people on the waitlist for the Core Plan.
To qualify for the program, individuals must earn less than $21,780. Married couples must earn less than $27, 214. Both groups pay a $130 premium.
The program received a nearly $1 million grant from the federal government, according to Smith, but that money has already dried up.
Smith criticized the Doyle administration for not being more fiscally conscientious when creating the program.
""From the very beginning there have been doubts about the sustainability of this health plan. Unfortunately, it appears those doubts were well founded,"" Smith said. ""The Basic program is a prime example of good intentions that created unrealistic expectations – but it isn't the only example.""
Those already enrolled in BadgerCare Basic will still receive services, though, according to Smith, their premiums will increase.
