Citizen Action Applauds Evers for Expanding BadgerCare Print
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Written by Citizen Action of Wisconsin Press   
Friday, 01 March 2019 16:00

badgercare-saveReigning in skyrocketing prescription drug prices is a great first step towards fulfilling public mandate to guarantee affordable health care in Wisconsin.


STATEWIDE - Citizen Action of Wisconsin members across the state are applauding Governor Evers for including BadgerCare expansion in his state budget. This great health care advance will be formally announced to a joint session of the Legislature tonight in the Governor’s first State Budget Address.

Citizen Action members are also very encouraged by the Governor’s initiatives to reign in price gouging by prescription drug corporations, which will also be announced tonight. The previous administration did nothing as many pharmaceutical corporations, driven by the demands of Wall Street, put windfall windfall profits over people, making vital medications unaffordable for many Wisconsinites.

Citizen Action held news conferences in Appleton and Wausau on Monday to discuss the benefits of BadgerCare Expansion, and tonight is holding 11 budget address watch parties across Wisconsin to mark the historic announcement. (The watch parties are open to the media upon request). See news coverage here.

robert-kraig“Claiming hundreds of millions in federal tax dollars already set aside for Wisconsin to expand BadgerCare to more families is a great first step in fulfilling the election mandate to guarantee affordable quality health care,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin.

Claiming the federal Medicaid dollars earmarked for Wisconsin would expand BadgerCare access to at least 75,000 Wisconsinites, most of whom work in home care, food services, cleaning services, child care, landscaping, and similar jobs that don’t offer insurance.

Highly partisan decisions made by former Governor Walker and the conservative majority in the Legislature needlessly took health coverage away from tens of thousands of Wisconsinites. Wisconsin is now one of only 14 states, most in the deep south, who are refusing to claim the additional federal dollars to expand health care for low income residents who can’t get affordable health insurance at work.

BadgerCare is Wisconsin’s homegrown health insurance program for low-income children and adults to help them get and stay healthy. It allows them to see a doctor when they are sick, get check-ups, buy medications, and go to the hospital without fear of choosing between their health and groceries or paying the rent.

BadgerCare expansion is especially important in the modern economy, where more jobs lack health coverage.  Jobs are different today—they’re not all 9-to-5 at big companies with good benefits. Many Americans are struggling to make ends meet with multiple part time or seasonal jobs. Health insurance costs more than ever and BadgerCare fills the gap so the most vulnerable Americans get the care they need.

Last week Republicans released a flawed report which made false and misleading claims about the impact of BadgerCare Expansion. The flawed report was debunked by a team of health policy experts from the UW Madison. The Center of Media and Democracy reported that the report came from highly ideological sources which are funded by far right billionaires who adamantly oppose increasing access to affordable health care.

“The objections to expanding BadgerCare leveled by some leading politicians are primarily partisan and ideological,” Kraig concluded. “There are no good policy reason for Wisconsin to continue to reject hundreds of millions of federal dollars that can be used to expand access to affordable health care. The voters in November made it clear that they expect their elected officials to stop playing politics with our health, and work together to make quality health coverage affordable and accessible to everyone in Wisconsin.”

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Last Updated on Saturday, 02 March 2019 13:13