Of course Walker’s “reform” ismore expensive than the federal effort. He refused to acceptfull federal funding for expanding Medicaid and chose to slice and dice healthcare coverage for our most vulnerable residents. The poorest residents could be onBadgerCare in Walker’s Wisconsin, but those just above the federal poverty linewould have to purchase private insurance on the insurance exchanges.
Walker moved about63,000 from BadgerCare and into the arms of the private insurancecompanies—with taxpayer subsidies, of course.
He’s crowed about howhis version of reform doesn’t result in a coverage gap—meaning, everyone hasaccess to affordable health insurance.
But anyone with abrain could have predicted that not everyone would be covered. If you aremaking just above the poverty level, you are probably not going to buyinsurance if you don’t have a serious health issue. Rather, you will gamble that you won’t get sickin the coming months and conserve your money for other things, like food andrent. (Trust me on this one—Iknow from personal experience.)
A few weeks ago, thestate Department of Health Services told me that they wouldn’t be able toestimate how many people who’d been kicked off of BadgerCare for being toowealthy had purchased insurance on the exchanges.
Now we know—or wethink we do. And the newly released data confirm what everyone with a brain had predicted.
Figures released bythe state show that roughly 38,000 who’d been kicked off of BadgerCare hadn’tbeen transitioned into the private insurance exchanges—about 60% of the 63,000who lost their BadgerCare coverage. And they won’t be able to purchaseinsurance on the exchanges for the rest of 2014.
The Journal Sentinel,not surprisingly, put a rosy glow on the numbers.
But Walker’scritics—and they seem to be growing by the day—aren’t happy with how he’smishandled this whole situation.
Here’s U.S. Sen.Tammy Baldwin’s statement on Walker’s latest failure:
New Report fromWalker Administration Reveals that Governor’s Plan Results in a Gap in Coverageand People Becoming Uninsured
Senator Baldwin: “For38,000 Wisconsinites, Governor Walker did not keep his promise.”
Washington,D.C. - U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin released the following statement today afterthe Walker Administration made public a report that showed that GovernorWalker’s plan to remove almost 63,000 Wisconsinites from BadgerCare coverageand transition them to plans in the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace hasresulted in a gap in coverage and people becoming uninsured.
Thenumbers released by the Walker Administration today, as reported by theAssociated Press, indicate that of the nearly 63,000 people who were kicked offof their BadgerCare coverage by Governor Walker, as many as 38,000 were nottransitioned to the Affordable Care Act Marketplace by the WalkerAdministration. About 60 percent of the vulnerable Wisconsinites kicked off ofBadgerCare remain unaccounted for, despite the Governor’s promise.
Accordingto the State Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Walker’s plan costs Wisconsin taxpayers$119 million more and covers 85,000 less individuals than if he had acceptedthe federal investment in BadgerCare through the Affordable Care Act.
“Wisconsincontinues to pay a price for Governor Walker's insistence on putting politicsahead of progress. Not only has Walker pursued a fiscally irresponsibleplan which covers fewer people at a higher cost to taxpayers, now they havebeen forced to reveal that his plan has resulted in a gap in coverage andpeople becoming uninsured. The fact is, the Walker plan kicked nearly 63,000people in Wisconsin off of their BadgerCare coverage and promised to transitionthem to the Marketplace. For 38,000 Wisconsinites, Walker did not keep thatpromise.”
Walker thought that playing politics with people's health care would help him raise his profile as he tries to reach the White House. Sadly, his misguided policies are having a damaging impact on our state's struggling families.
