Madison -- On December 28, 2011 Wisconsin was awarded a $24.5 million “Performance Bonus” from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, recognizing the state’s success in covering uninsured children. This bonus could be the last of its' kind for the state of Wisconsin as Gov. Scott Walker has  taken aim at the states children with his proposal that will kick nearly 30,000 of them off BadgerCare.

What will the self-proclaimed CEO of Wisconsin Scott Walker do with the extra cash the state earned for its efforts in ensuring healthy children? Will the $24.5 million be used to keep kids healthy? Or will he use it to fulfill the 2 billion dollar corporate welfare promise?

Members of the Save BadgerCare Coalition had this to say:

“This funding is national recognition for Wisconsin’s success in making government work better to cover uninsured children. Thanks to many years of bipartisan leadership by state policymakers, Wisconsin managed to make BadgerCare affordable to low-wage working families and to eliminate other barriers to the participation of children and parents,” said Sara Finger, executive director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health and Save BadgerCare Coalition coordinator.

“Today’s announcement is fantastic news for families in BadgerCare because these funds could be used to avoid making proposed changes that would knock more than 64,000 people out of the program,” said Ken Taylor, executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (WCCF).

“If we use this funding to preclude the changes that would make BadgerCare unaffordable for many low-wage working parents and their children, we should be able to count on two more years of performance bonuses of roughly the same amount as this year’s award,” said Jon Peacock, WCCF’s research director.

“Because the economic downturn continues to hit Wisconsin families hard, we’ve got to keep up the good work to help parents who never thought they would need these programs, so they can help protect their children and their own well-being,” said David Riemer, senior fellow, Community Advocates Public Policy Institute. “If we use this new funding to protect the current coverage for uninsured families, we can make Medicaid and BadgerCare work even better and deliver even more value for taxpayers.”

“This performance bonus highlights the critical role Medicaid plays in meeting Wisconsin’s health care needs. Medicaid not only works hand-in-hand with Medicare to provide long-term care for seniors and the disabled, it also lets thousands of children who would otherwise be uninsured get the care they need to grow and thrive,” said A.J. Nino Amato

It will be interesting to see if Gov. Walker calls another press conference with children at his side and declare that he has decided to add $24.5 million back to BadgerCare, much like he did recently when he told the state he had decided to lift the cap from senior car, when in  reality, the Federal Government ordered him too. Keep in mind one thing, the $24.5 million bonus was given to Wisconsin because of the policies before Walker took office, his new plans would eliminate the bonus of $24.5 million next year.