PHOTO CREDIT: Evan Casey
State Representative JoCasta Zamarripa spoke at El Rey Plaza Monday during a Statewide Day of Action calling for the expansion of BadgerCare across the state.
Four protest events across Milwaukee Monday were aimed at urging legislators to support BadgerCare expansion in the state budget. The events were organized as a Statewide Day of Action by Citizen Action of Wisconsin, an activist coalition.
State lawmakers have disagreed on whether to accept the federal dollars to expand BadgerCare Plus, which is a Medicaid program for low-income individuals. This comes after a 2019 report found that Milwaukee County ranked second to last among Wisconsin counties in regards to its residents’ health.
State Representatives JoCasta Zamarripa, Jonathan Brostoff and Marisabel Cabrera and Milwaukee County Supervisors Steven Shea and Sylvia Ortiz-Velez each spoke at the different events, which were held at Brown Deer United Methodist, El Rey Plaza, City Hall and Gordon Park in Milwaukee.
“If we’re truly going to address healthcare disparities with low income folks and people of color, we want to make sure we’re expanding affordable health care options,” said Rep. Zamarripa during one of the events Monday.
Earlier in the month, Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm said 290,000 people in Wisconsin lack health coverage.
“Over 80,000 low-income, working people in Wisconsin are living just above the poverty line. They could have access to affordable health care, but don’t,” says Citizen Action of Wisconsin Executive Director Dr. Robert Kraig.
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This comes as both Republicans and Democrats have disagreed on many components of Gov. Tony Evers’ budget. The budget is being discussed in the Assembly this week, before going to the Senate and then to Gov. Evers’s desk for final approval.
PHOTO CREDIT: Evan Casey
Fabi Maldonado (left), a Citizen Action of Wisconsin Organizer, speaks to protesters Monday.
In total, twelve day of action events were held in nine cities across the state Monday. Many speakers and organizers in Milwaukee echoed health care problems that family members and friends had that BadgerCare could address.
“It’s not a unique story. I feel like a lot of Americans are struggling,” said Fabi Maldonado, a Citizen Action of Wisconsin organizer.
“There are a lot of individuals who can’t afford affordable health care,” said Demi Young, regional organizing lead with the Human Rights Campaign. “The biggest issue is that there are certain individuals with certain ideologies that are playing politics with people's lives and that's not right.”
