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Bills from the 2021–22 session

Senate Bill 1089

BadgerCare purchase option, basic plan, state-based insurance exchange, and granting rule-making authority. (FE)

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Mar 10, 2022

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Senate vote, not reached

  4. Assembly vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Mar 15, 2022: “Fiscal estimate received”

It never got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Insurance, Licensing and Forestry. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

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What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

This bill requires the Department of Health Services to request federal approval to permit certain individuals whose income is greater than the income eligibility limit for the BadgerCare program, but who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements, to purchase coverage through BadgerCare through a separate purchase option that meets criteria specified in the bill, including having a premium rate similar to the average rate paid by the state to managed care plan contractors and a minimum actuarial value of 87 percent. The bill also requires DHS to include an option for small groups of 50 employees or fewer to purchase coverage for group members under the purchase program under the bill. The bill requires DHS to submit a report providing information on the status of receiving a federal waiver and the results from actuarial and economic analyses that are necessary for a waiver proposal. If any necessary waiver or state plan amendments are approved, DHS must implement the program. The bill also requires DHS to seek any federal waiver and state Medical Assistance plan amendments necessary to allow qualified individuals who choose to purchase the BadgerCare option to use advanced tax credits and cost-sharing credits, if eligible, to purchase one of these options.

Currently, DHS administers the Medical Assistance program, which is a joint federal and state program that provides health services to individuals who have limited financial resources. Some services are provided through programs that operate under a waiver of federal Medicaid laws, including services provided through the BadgerCare program. Under current law, certain parents and caretaker relatives with incomes of not more than 100 percent of the federal poverty line, before a 5 percent income disregard is applied, are eligible for BadgerCare benefits. Under current law, childless adults who 1) are under age 65; 2) have family incomes that do not exceed 100 percent of the FPL, before a 5 percent income disregard is applied;

Read the full summary

and 3) are not otherwise eligible for Medical Assistance, are eligible, under a demonstration project, for BadgerCare benefits.

The bill requires DHS to develop a plan and request federal approval to create a basic health plan that complies with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The basic health plan must cover individuals whose household income does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty line. The ACA allows states to create such a basic health program.

This bill directs the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance to establish and operate a state-based health insurance exchange, which must also include access to the ability to enroll in the purchase option for BadgerCare. Under current law, the ACA requires that an exchange be established in each state to facilitate the purchase of qualified health insurance coverage by individuals and small employers. Under the ACA, a state must operate its own state-based exchange, use the federally facilitated exchange operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or adopt a hybrid approach under which the state operates a state-based exchange but uses the federal platform, known as HealthCare.gov, to handle eligibility and enrollment functions. Wisconsin currently uses the federally facilitated exchange. The bill authorizes OCI to enter into any agreement with the federal government necessary to implement the state-based exchange provisions.

Who's behind it

8 senators are its ⁠. All 8 are Democrats.

26 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 34 names

Authors (8)

Signed on in support (26)

What it would cost

State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

What happened

  1. Mar 15, 2022

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  2. Mar 15, 2022

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  3. Mar 10, 2022

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Insurance, Licensing and Forestry.

  4. Mar 10, 2022

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Mar 10, 2022 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators Johnson, Larson, Agard, Bewley, Carpenter, Roys, Smith and L. Taylor; cosponsored by Representatives Shelton, Moore Omokunde, Anderson, Baldeh, Billings, Brostoff, Cabrera, Conley, Drake, Emerson, Goyke, Haywood, Hebl, Hesselbein, Hong, B. Meyers, Ohnstad, Pope, Riemer, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spreitzer, Stubbs, Subeck, Vining and Vruwink

  2. Mar 10, 2022 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Insurance, Licensing and Forestry

  3. Mar 15, 2022 · Senate

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

  4. Mar 15, 2022 · Senate

    Fiscal estimate received

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor

More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate

More in the glossary