Photo Credit: Pictures of Money (Flickr CC)
The November 2018 election that replaced Wisconsin’s Republican governor, attorney general and state treasurer with Democrats showed that voters were tired of the highly politicized policy decisions by the GOP during the last eight years that often unnecessarily hurt our citizens. Now, the Marquette University poll out last week shows just how much our citizens reject those Scott Walker-era policies.
For example, voters by an overwhelming 62% to 25% want Wisconsin to join the vast majority of states and take Medicaid-expansion funds. The poll shows that even a majority of Republicans want to see Medicaid expansion. Regarding legalization of marijuana, the Marquette poll shows exactly what the voters expressed on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the ballot box: they want to see marijuana legalized by a margin of 59% to 35%.
Medicaid Expansion
Regarding Medicaid expansion, the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) has a provision that encourages states to expand their Medicaid coverage to include virtually all individuals up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Walker and the Republicans categorically rejected that opportunity. Walker had his eye on running for president and was doing everything he could to kiss up to the extreme rightwing of Republican check writers. Walker used and abused Wisconsin to further his personal ambitions. One would have to have a selfish political agenda to refuse the money since the federal government was paying for 100% of the expansion costs through 2016. Beginning in 2017, the feds would pick up 90%. It’s an absolute “no brainer.” Wisconsin would just be getting back some of the tax dollars sent to Washington, D.C.
In a couple of other states where a rightwing Republican governor refused the Federal Medicaid Expansion money, the legislature pushed back and overrode the governor. In Wisconsin, the Republicans controlling the State Legislature naively followed Walker’s lead and, as of today, the Badger State has lost more than $1 billion due to simple, petulant stupidity.
It’s Not My Problem!
Some callous individuals might say, “It’s not hurting me, since I have a job that provides health insurance.” Well, they are wrong. If a low-income, uninsured person comes to a hospital emergency room, the hospital, by law, has to care for them. If they can’t pay the bill, that becomes what is termed “charity care,” but the hospital doesn’t eat all those costs; it shifts them to those who have insurance or who pay for their own medical care. This is no secret. “Cost-shifting” is a common practice at every hospital. The result is that healthcare and insurance costs increase, and many employers—who used to cover 80% of their employees’ monthly insurance premiums—now only cover 50-65%.
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Furthermore, if someone is without health insurance, they often don’t go to doctor when health problems arise, hoping the problem will heal itself. It is only when the health issue gets particularly serious that they end up in the emergency room. By that time, they might be treated for a more advanced problem than if the person had seen a doctor in a timelier manner. Emergency rooms are expensive, and the costs get shifted to those who are paying for their own healthcare—whether through insurance or out-of-pocket.
So, is it Time for Wisconsin to Get Smarter?
Walker and his Republican colleagues have, to-date, made Wisconsin taxpayers a billion dollars poorer, and that number climbs every day. Instead of cutting money for education throughout the last several years, accepting Medicaid expansion funds could have enabled the state to provide more money for education without raising taxes.
So, there are many reasons Southeastern Wisconsin has some of the highest medical costs in the nation, and this is one of them. This is a politically self-inflicted wound that can be changed tomorrow. However, our Republican friends in the Legislature are digging in their heels and refusing to correct the ridiculous policy of refusing the federal monies that Walker dragged them into. They can now reverse this mistake, since we have a governor who is not positioning himself to run for president.
So, if you have a Republican state representative or state senator, contact them and ask them why they oppose Medicaid expansion and why they ignore the will of the voters. Don’t let them pass you off to some innocent staff person claiming they are “too busy;” they aren’t too busy to talk to their constituents. Go to their town hall meetings or question them if you see them in the supermarket or coffeeshop. Ask the hard questions, and then step back and listen to their feeble answers.
