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Updates for local agencies, community-based organizations, and providers who provide assistance to members of Wisconsin's health and nutrition public assistance programs.
ForwardHealth Members Will Continue to Keep Benefits During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Making sure the people of Wisconsin can get health care when they need it is always important. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever. In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency and federal rules, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) temporarily changed program rules to help protect the health and safety of members.
Members will continue to keep their benefits if they were eligible for them on or after March 18, 2020. Their benefits will stay the same until at least the end of the month in which the federal public health emergency for COVID-19 ends. Based on what the federal government has said, DHS expects that the federal public health emergency will last at least until the end of 2021.
This affects members in the following programs:
- BadgerCare Plus
- Emergency Services Medicaid
- Family Planning Only Services
- Foster Care Medicaid
- Institutional Medicaid
- Katie Beckett Medicaid
- Medicaid Purchase Plan
- SeniorCare
- Supplemental Security Income Medicaid
- Supplemental Security Income-Related Medicaid
- Tuberculosis-Related Medicaid
- Waiver Medicaid
- Wisconsin Well Woman Medicaid
This means that any member who would normally have lost benefits on or after March 18, 2020, will continue to keep their benefits. This is true even if a member has had changes that would normally have resulted in a loss of benefits. During the federal public health emergency, a member will only lose their benefits if they move out of Wisconsin or ask to end their benefits.
DHS still expects members to report changes as appropriate for their program enrollment, such as changes in income or address.
Members will receive a ForwardHealth Update in the mail with this information. The Updates will be mailed over a four-week period beginning the week of July 5, 2021. Members will receive an Update based on their program enrollment. The Updates listed below are mostly the same but have minor differences based on specific program rules and the agency that members should contact if they need to report changes:
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2021-01, titled “You Will Keep Your Health Care Benefits During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” for members enrolled in BadgerCare Plus, Medicaid, Medicaid Purchase Plan, Family Planning Only Services, Institutional Medicaid, or community waiver programs
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2021-02, titled “You Will Keep Your Emergency Services Medicaid Benefits During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” for members enrolled in Emergency Services Medicaid
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2021-03, titled “You Will Keep Your Foster Care Medicaid Benefits During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” for members enrolled in Foster Care Medicaid
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2021-04, titled “Katie Beckett Medicaid Members Will Keep Benefits During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” for members enrolled in Katie Beckett Medicaid
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2021-05, titled “You Will Keep Your Same SeniorCare Benefits During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” for members enrolled in SeniorCare
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2021-06, titled “You Will Keep Your Supplemental Security Income Medicaid Benefits During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” for members enrolled in Supplemental Security Income Medicaid
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2021-07, titled “You Will Keep Your Tuberculosis-Related Medicaid Benefits During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” for members enrolled in Tuberculosis-Related Medicaid
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2021-08, titled “You Will Keep Your Wisconsin Well Woman Medicaid Benefits During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” for members enrolled in Wisconsin Well Woman Medicaid
Additional COVID-19 Information
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