Wisconsin Medicaid Health Care Efficiencies

Without efficiencies and cost containment reforms, the Medicaid budget would require $1.8 billion in additional GPR over the upcoming biennium. The Governor’s proposed budget takes a number of actions to begin "bending the cost curve" in long-term health care outlays, including providing flexibility to the Department of Health Services (DHS) to pursue approaches to constrain health care costs in the state's Medicaid program.

DHS is implementing the Health Care Efficiencies Project to identify and develop these reforms. The project is a comprehensive examination of how Wisconsin Medicaid purchases health care outcomes and identifies areas where reform can improve the health care of Wisconsin’s citizens and achieve savings. These efficiency measures will include a review of everything from improving administrative processing procedures to the provision of medical services and ways to strengthen efforts to reduce recipient and provider fraud and abuse.

As part of the Health Care Efficiencies Project, the Department is requesting reform ideas from health care professionals, administrators, stakeholders, and the general public through a series of listening sessions. Comments and suggestions can also be provided through an online survey.

Last Revised: March 29, 2011