State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services

Release 26-01 February 13, 2026

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2.4 BadgerCare Plus Household

"Living in the household" means all individuals residing in or temporarily absent (see Section 3.5.1 Temporary Absence) from the same residence. This includes:

• People living in the home in a community residential confinement program. DOCDepartment of Corrections electronically monitors them.

• Huber law prisoners who are released from jail to attend to the needs of their families. The Huber law prisoner may be the caretaker relative in the household if both of the following are true:  

  • The prisoner intends to return to the home.

  • The prisoner continues to be involved in the planning of the support and care of the minor children.

See Section 45.8.4 Huber Law.

• Individuals who are incarcerated but reported as part of the household (see Section 45.7 Household Composition).

2.4.1 Not Living in the Household

Individuals who are incarcerated are not considered to be living in the household if the applicant or member reports they are not part of the household.

2.4.2 Temporary Absence

A child and that child's parent or caretaker relative can be in the same BadgerCare Plus test group even when not living together if either is temporarily absent, provided they meet at least one of the following conditions:

1. The continuous absence is expected to be for no more than six months and the caretaker relative continues to exercise responsibility for the care and control of the child.
2. The child was removed from the home by a child welfare agency and the parents meet the requirements (see Section 10.1 Eligibility for Parent or Caretaker Relative of Child Removed from Home).
3. Either the child or the parent is out of the home and receiving residential substance use disorder treatment.

Condition 2 or 3 don't have a time limit. In addition, they do not require the caretaker relative to continue to exercise responsibility for the care and control of the child during these absences, except as described in Chapter 10 Child Welfare Parents.

The following children are not considered temporarily absent:

• Children who are placed in an institution for 30 or more days, unless they were placed there by a child welfare agency.
• Children who are placed in an IMDInstitute for Mental Disease, unless they were placed there by a child welfare agency.

Note	Children in the above situations are considered temporarily absent if they are receiving residential substance use disorder treatment.

2.4.3 Students

When a child younger than 19 years old who is a student living away from their parent’s home applies for BadgerCare Plus, the child and their family can determine whether the student will be on their own case or a temporarily absent individual included in their parent’s case.

Students older than 19 years old will need to apply for BadgerCare Plus with their own application.

This page last updated in Release Number: 21-01
Release Date: 3/29/2021
Effective Date: 2/1/2021

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The information concerning the BadgerCare Plus program provided in this handbook release is published in accordance with: Titles XI, XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act; Parts 430 through 481 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations; Chapter 49 of the Wisconsin Statutes; and Chapters HA 3, DHS 2 and 101 through 109 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code.

Notice: The content within this manual is the sole responsibility of the State of Wisconsin's Department of Health Services (DHS). This site will link to sites outside of DHS where appropriate. DHS is in no way responsible for the content of sites outside of DHS.

Publication Number: P-10171