Proposed Budget: Protecting Public Health
Public health activities lay the groundwork for healthy communities. They protect us from diseases and injury we cannot prevent alone and help us change behaviors harmful to our health.
Public health works to:
- Prevent epidemics.
- Protect the environment, workplaces, housing, food, and water.
- Promote healthy behavior.
- Monitor the health of the population.
- Mobilize community for action.
- Respond to disasters.
- Assure that medical services are high quality and necessary
- Train specialists in investigating and preventing diseases.
- Develop policies that promote health and well-being.
Compared to the rest of the nation, Wisconsin has been significantly underfunding its public health efforts for years. In the face of emerging and long-standing health challenges, Gov. Evers’ budget makes transformational investments into our public health system.
Keep moms and babies healthy
Families in Wisconsin have been perpetually impacted by severe racial and ethnic disparities, which has led to adverse health and economic outcomes in our state. Wisconsin must strengthen efforts to assure the best outcomes for all mothers and babies in the state. That is why the proposed budget will:
- Extend postpartum coverage for pregnant women in Medicaid. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) changed federal Medicaid law, allowing states the option to provide 12 months of continuous Medicaid eligibility following the birth of a baby by updating their state plan. Extending postpartum coverage from 60 days after birth of a baby to a full year will help maintain access to coverage, improve continuity of care, and reduce disparities in postpartum follow-up care for chronic conditions associated with mortality rates.
- Invest in programs to improve maternal and infant health. The budget also includes provisions for maternal and child health service coordination grants, adopting federal newborn screening recommendations, and funding diaper banks to provide diapers to families in need.
Protect kids and families
- Removing lead hazards. Even low levels of exposure to lead can harm the mental and physical development of young kids.
- The budget invests $106.7 million in initiatives to keep kids and families safe from harmful lead exposure by removing it from service lines, homes, schools, child care centers, and communities and helping local health departments carry out more lead investigations.
- It also builds on efforts to fight PFAS contamination and ensure Wisconsinites have access to clean, safe drinking water with $200 million provided to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to replace lead water lines across the state.
- Improving dental health. The budget invests $12 million in dental health initiatives, including grants for low-income dental clinics and funding to grow our dental workforce, to improve access for the hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who struggle to access dental services. This includes $2.5 million to develop a federal Medicaid waiver to offer a statewide dental contract, create a grant to support community dental health coordinators in a rural region of the state, create a grant to community health centers to support mobile dental clinics, expand Medicaid coverage to include nonsurgical treatment of temporomandibular joint disorder, and repeal the dental pilot project reporting requirement.
- Launch an electrocardiogram screening pilot program for youths participating in athletics. To help prevent cardiac-related health incidents in student-athletes, the budget provides $4 million for the pilot program in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. This pilot will be critical in identifying any best practices and strategies for consideration in developing a future potential statewide expansion of the screening program.
Strengthening our safety nets
- Boost emergency medical services. To address major challenges in recruiting and keeping staff, Gov. Evers has proposed $50 million to cities, towns, and villages to expand and improve emergency medical services (EMS), who provide life-saving treatment to Wisconsinites every day.
- Supporting local clinics and health centers to ensure no one goes without needed care. This budget provides $12.4 million to a network of community health centers, similar facilities, and free and charitable clinics to make sure everyone, regardless of income or health coverage, is able to access the services they need.
Other public health initiatives in the governor's budget proposal
- Wisconsin Immunization Registry Staff
- Disease Intervention Specialists
- Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival
- Trauma Resilience Grant
- Statewide Poison Control Program
- Mike Johnson Life Care and Early Intervention Services Grant
- Women's Health Block Grant
- Reach Out and Read
- WIC Adjunct Eligibility Module
- Pediatric Health Psychology Residency and Fellowship
- Community Aids Basic County Allocation Increase