Dunn County Supervisors petition state to expand Medicaid, crisis support

MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Board of Supervisors recently passed two resolutions requesting the expansion of Medicaid as well as increased state funding for community support programs and crisis intervention programs.

"There were two different resolutions," said Human Services Director for Dunn County Paula Winter. "One is for Medicaid expansion and one is to support the full funding for the Community Support Program and the Crisis Program. Counties are asking the state to pay the share that Medicaid does not reimburse."

Under the Affordable Care Act, states can expand the number of people covered under Medicaid by providing additional Medicaid funding which would be matched by federal dollars. But, as the resolution states, "historically the State of Wisconsin has declined Medicaid expansion funds."

If Medicaid were expanded in Wisconsin, an additional 700 Dunn county residents would qualify for the program. Additionally, 90,000 additional individuals statewide would qualify for Medicaid.

This, with additional state funding for the Community Service Program which helps people with severe and persistent mental health issues and Crisis Intervention services would help "to keep people living stably in the community," said Winter. "So we save money by not having that person continue to go to the hospital. That saves Medicaid funding, because a lot of people have Medicaid that are hospitalized."

Counties are currently required to provide crisis intervention programs like the Community Support Programs offered by Dunn County. However, Winter said, the closure of the HSHS hospitals in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls as well as the Prevea Clinics has increased financial strain on the county.

"Because of the number of persons with mental health issues continues to increase (while) the tax levy doesn't, (the county) struggles to provide these services which we know help people stay alive and stay safe," she said. "The county can't keep up with it without some additional funding."

While the county's financial resources have been strained, Winters said Dunn County Human Services Department has not yet gone over budget.

"At this point, we're still looking at coming in (within budget) at the end of the year, but not with much reserves," she said.