NY lawmaker warns Wisconsin ‘proceed with caution’ over Medicaid program change
‘UPFRONT’ recap: The Department of Health Services has said it plans to change vendors to a company under fire in New York and facing a DOJ lawsuit
New York State Sen. James Skoufis is warning Wisconsin officials to “proceed with caution” with changes to IRIS, the state’s Medicaid-funded long-term care program.
“These are people’s lives who depend on these types of programs that we’re talking about, and so it’s important that any state move judiciously, cautiously, intelligently, with integrity,” Skoufis said on WISN 12’s “UPFRONT,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “And I sure hope that Wisconsin learns from some of the mistakes that occurred here in New York.”
Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced its notice of intent to select Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) as its new vendor to handle finances and paperwork for the state’s IRIS program, consolidating the program from multiple vendors to one.
PPL is the same company operating in New York. Two weeks ago, the Department of Justice sued PPL and the New York Health Department over accusations of Medicaid fraud and accused the state of failing to police the company. The company has also faced a bipartisan firestorm of criticism from state lawmakers over how it was chosen and the company’s rollout in New York.
PPL said in a statement that the company “rejects the claims in this complaint unequivocally,” adding, “It rests on inaccurate allegations that misrepresent who PPL is and how we work.”
IRIS, which is funded through federal and state Medicaid dollars, allows more than 29,000 Wisconsinites with physical or developmental disabilities to manage their own care with in-home assistance or transportation. It is projected to cost $1.5 billion in 2026 alone, according to state budget documents.
“They were months and months late with moving the balance of the individuals over to the program,” Skoufis said, a Democrat and chair of the committee on investigations and government operations, referring to the transition to PPL in New York. “There were thousands of caregivers who weren’t getting paid during the early and middle parts of this transition. It was a full-blown disaster. And putting sort of the cherry on top of this mess was PPL was gaslighting lawmakers, like myself. They were outright lying.”
Wisconsin’s transition to PPL is now on pause while DHS reviews formal protests that have been filed with the state.
In the protest documents, obtained by “UPFRONT” through an open records request, other competing companies, including current vendors, told state officials the change to PPL “introduces unacceptable risk to participants, workers and the State.”
“The risks of a single-FEA model are not hypothetical,” iLife and the Centers for Independence wrote. “Appendix A documents real-world consequences experienced in other states following consolidation under PPL, including payroll disruptions, workforce instability, data exposure, and service interruptions.”
DHS declined to comment on the process or answer questions, citing the ongoing review.
“As a New Yorker, I’m in no place to tell Wisconsin what they should or should not be doing,” Skoufis said. “At the end of the day, they should proceed with caution.”
PPL also declined to comment on the Wisconsin contract, but has touted its 25 years of experience in 18 states and has said the company maintains high satisfaction rates and enforcement.
Alex Lasry, the World Cup’s New York-New Jersey Host Committee CEO, says the impact of the games will ripple across the country as Wisconsinites travel to sites nationwide to watch the games, including New York.
“I was actually on the bus from the Port Authority to MetLife Stadium, and I was sitting next to a couple of German fans, and someone on the bus walked on with a Packers hat, and I yelled, ‘Go Packers!’ and he kind of gave me a little fist bump,” Lasry said. “And then the guy next to me was like, ‘Oh, I’m from Wauwatosa.”
Lasry, the former Milwaukee Bucks executive and U.S. Senate candidate, has spent the past year in New York preparing to host World Cup games.
“FIFA’s projected over $40 billion of economic impact to the United States just as a result of the World Cup,” Lasry said. “But I think, more importantly, I think there’s a couple of things that we really want to see. We want this World Cup to do what the Dream Team did for basketball around the world in ’92. Hopefully, this World Cup inspires the next generation of athletes to go play soccer and to help deliver that, the U.S. soccer World Cup championship that we’ve been longing for. And then hopefully this also shows that if you want to have the greatest sports and entertainment event in the world, you’re going to do it right here in the United States.”
Lorenzo Santos, one of four Democrats running in the primary attempting to unseat GOP Rep. Bryan Steil, says his campaign is building a “grassroots movement” when asked how much he’s raised since entering the race in February.
“If money was the main thing, we would have a Gov. Michels and Sen. Hovde,” Santos said. “My main thing is making sure that I am talking to voters of the first district.”
Santos will appear on the ballot alongside fellow Democrats Mitchell Berman, Peter Burgelis and Miguel Aranda.
“At the end of the day, I’m out in the district,” Santos said. “I’m listening to everybody, Republican or Democrat. At the end of the day, we need to have someone who’s going to stand up for Wisconsinites, who understand what we’re going through, who’s going to fight for us. And frankly, I think we’re going to have a Democrat president in 2028, but I don’t care if it’s a Democrat or Republican in the White House; if anyone goes against the interests of the first district, they will hear from me.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has listed the first congressional district as one of its targets for 2026. Steil won his 2024 race by 10 points.
“I’ve had conversations with the DCCC,” Santos said. “I’ve spoken with them, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is the campaign that we’re running here. All politics is local. They’re not here. They’re in Washington. I understand my district, and that’s what’s most important right now.”