Governor Scott Walker wants Wisconsin to be the first state to implement a mandatory drug screening, testing and treatment protocol for Medicaid recipients, The Boston Globe reports.
Here's what you should know.
1. State officials expect the state to submit its drug testing proposal in May. Analysts are unsure if the Trump administration will approve the program.
2. Wisconsin would become the first state in Medicaid's 53-year existence to mandate drug testing.
3. Eligible beneficiaries will go through a screening process for illegal drug use through a written questionnaire. If the screening indicates drug use, the beneficiary would undergo physical testing. The state would deny people who refuse the screening or testing benefits.
People who test positive for drugs would have to undergo treatment. If they refuse treatment, they'd lose their benefits for six months.
4. The testing would include opiates to attempt to curb the epidemic.
5. Mr. Walker's plan would reduce the number of years a person could be on Medicaid from five to four. Estimates say the plan would cost the state $50 million annually.
6. Mr. Walker said to The Globe if successful, he wants to expand the testing to people receiving other social services including food stamps and unemployment benefits.
7. Healthcare experts have heavily criticized Mr. Walker's plan calling it "ineffective, costly and unjustly targeting impoverished minorities," The Globe reports.
University of Wisconsin Madison health policy professor Richard Brown, MD, said to The Globe, "This would have a disastrous effect on people’s lives. This will have all sorts of devastating ripples for families that are already stressed and trying to do the best they can with limited resources."