MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin health officials say the state’s Medicaid budget will finish the 2015-17 biennium $325 million in the black. The Department of Health Services sent a letter June 30 to the leaders of the Legislature’s finance committee saying the budget is expected to finish fiscal year 2017 with a balance of $325 million. That’s about $5 million less than DHS estimated in March but still consistent with Gov. Scott Walker’s assumptions going into the 2017-19 state budget. The letter attributed the balance to a number of one-time factors, including slower enrollment growth than expected and improved federal matching rates. DHS officials project that expenditures will grow in the next biennium.
