Scott Walker asks Trump administration for go-ahead on drug testing for health benefits

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker pared back his overhaul of state health programs Wednesday but stuck to his main goal: making Wisconsin the first state in the nation to require needy but able-bodied adults to work and submit to drug tests to get coverage.

Walker officially asked President Donald Trump's administration Wednesday to sign off on the governor's proposals to move more single adults off state BadgerCare Medicaid coverage and into the workforce. The centerpiece of those measures is the governor's plan to screen childless, able-bodied BadgerCare recipients for drugs.

“Unemployment is low, and the percentage of people working in Wisconsin is among the best in the nation. This application is a step in the right direction, and we’re continuing to build on Wisconsin’s legacy as a leader in welfare reform," the Republican governor said in a statement.

Walker said 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.

Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee approved the proposal last month on a party-line vote, so a go-ahead from the Trump administration is one of the few remaining hurdles to putting the measure into practice.

State Rep. Jimmy Anderson (D-Fitchburg) said the state doesn't require business owners to take drug tests to get state help and shouldn't make needy residents do so either.

Democrats have 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.

"It's a huge taxpayer waste and it's also an unconstitutional intrusion into people's privacy," Anderson said.

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.

Under the proposal, the state would screen applicants with questions about illegal drug use and then, based on their answers, test roughly 4,000 of them for it. Those who fail a drug test and refuse substance abuse treatment would have their coverage rejected.

After taking comments in recent weeks, Walker made the following changes to his proposal:

Waiving initial drug testing for BadgerCare applicants who agree up front to treatment for substance abuse. In another change to the proposal, applicants who fail a drug test and initially reject treatment could quickly regain coverage if they reconsider and accept help. Previously, Walker had proposed making these applicants go at least six months without BadgerCare after rejecting treatment.
Reduce the number of BadgerCare recipients who have to pay a premium. Before the proposal required all single adult BadgerCare recipients making between $2,533 and $12,060 a year to pay a sliding scale premium. Now Walker is proposing a single $8 premium for those making between $6,030 and $12,060 a year.
Charge an $8 copay for all emergency room visits, dropping a proposal provision that would have required $25 copays for every visit to an emergency room after a patient’s first use of it.

It will take at least 75 days for the Trump administration to respond to Walker's request and at least a year after that to implement it. Walker also needs to win the support of the full Legislature for his proposal.

If his proposal clears both of those hurdles, the Walker administration will have to provide a final set of details on his plan to the budget committee for its consideration.