12.1 Migrant Workers

A "migrant worker" is a person who temporarily leaves their principal place of residence outside Wisconsin and comes to Wisconsin for not more than ten months per year in order to accept seasonal employment in the planting, cultivating, raising, harvesting, handling, drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, grading, or storing any agricultural or horticultural commodity in its unmanufactured state and is authorized to work in the U.S.

"Migrant worker" does not include the following:

A person who is employed only by a Wisconsin resident, if the employer or the employer's spouse is the person's child, parent, grandchild, grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew.
A student who is enrolled (or has been enrolled during the past six months) in any school, college, or university, unless the student is a member of a household that contains a migrant worker.

Certain migrant workers and their families qualify for a simplified application procedure when applying for BadgerCare Plus or Medicaid in Wisconsin (see section 12.4.2 Simplified Application Procedure for Migrant Workers).

This page last updated in Release Number: 24-02
Release Date: 08/22/2024
Effective Date: 08/22/2024

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.

Notice: The content within this manual is the sole responsibility of the State of Wisconsin's Department of Health Services (DHS). This site will link to sites outside of DHS where appropriate. DHS is in no way responsible for the content of sites outside of DHS.

Publication Number: P-10171