State of Wisconsin |
HISTORY |
The policy on this page is from a previous version of the handbook.
BadgerCare Plus Emergency Services is a limited BadgerCare Plus benefit for documented immigrants who have not been in the U.S. for five years or more and for undocumented immigrants.
An immigrant who is ineligible for BadgerCare Plus because of their immigration status is eligible for BadgerCare Plus Emergency Services coverage if they:
A person can be eligible for Emergency Services for an emergency that occurred within the three months prior to the application month as long as the person met the eligibility requirements for Emergency Services during the month(s) in which the emergency occurred.
An emergency means a medical condition (including labor and delivery) that shows acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that the lack of immediate medical treatment could result in one or more of the following:
BadgerCare Plus Emergency Services covers:
For information on manually processing applications, see Process Help, Section 9.3 BC+ Emergency Services Manual Application Processing.
Group | Income |
Pregnant Women | Up to 306% FPL |
Newborns to age 1 | Up to 306% FPL |
Children ages 1 - 5 | Up to 191% FPL |
Children ages 6 - 18 | Up to 156% FPL |
Former Foster Care Youth | Any FPL Level |
Parents and Caretakers | Up to 100% FPL |
Note |
These income limits must be applied because not everyone who meets the rules for BadgerCare Plus qualifies for BadgerCare Plus Emergency Services. Emergency Services is funded through the Medicaid Program (T-19), and is only available for people whose coverage is provided under a Medicaid state plan. As a result, children above the income limits for Medicaid (T-19) and childless adults whose coverage is provided under a federal waiver do not qualify for Emergency Services. |
A U.S. citizen is not eligible for BadgerCare Plus Emergency Services even when they cannot produce citizenship verification, identity verification, or both.
Example 1 |
Jill applies for BadgerCare Plus, declares U.S. citizenship and is asked to provide documents proving her citizenship and identity. She has a driver license to prove identity but does not have anything to prove her citizenship. Since Emergency Services BadgerCare Plus does not require proof of citizenship and identity as an eligibility requirement, she then asks to be considered for this program. However, the IM worker cannot process BadgerCare Plus Emergency Services eligibility for persons declaring to be U.S. citizens. BadgerCare Plus Emergency Services is reserved for non-qualifying non-citizens. |
Verification of identity is not required if the applicant or member is not a U.S. citizen.
Immigrants who only meet the criteria for BadgerCare Plus under the childless adults’ coverage group are ineligible for Emergency Services.
An inmate who is a non-qualifying immigrant may be eligible for Emergency Services for the dates they are hospitalized as an inpatient for emergency treatment as long as they meet the rest of the eligibility criteria for Emergency Services.
Pregnant non-qualifying immigrants may be eligible under the BadgerCare Plus Prenatal Program.
Emergency Services is not considered in public charge determinations (see Section 4.3.4 Public Charge).
This page last updated in Release Number: 23-02
Release Date: 04/17/2023
Effective Date: 04/17/2023
Section 39.1.3 Effective Date: 12/23/2022
The information concerning the BadgerCare Plus program provided in this handbook release is published in accordance with: Titles XI, XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act; Parts 430 through 481 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations; Chapter 49 of the Wisconsin Statutes; and Chapters HA 3, DHS 2 and 101 through 109 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code.
Publication Number: P-10171