State representatives and senators held press conferences in Madison and Milwaukee Monday to call attention to the thousands of residents who will lose BadgerCare coverage April 1, according to a statement from Citizen Action of Wisconsin.
Elected officials, faith leaders and citizens met to speak on behalf of the 77,000 Wisconsinites who will lose access to BadgerCare after Gov. Scott Walker rejected federal funding for health care.
Despite a rocky start, six million people have signed up for health insurance through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature legislation. The legislation broke new ground in health care reform and widened the political schism.
Part of the health care law provides an option for states to expand their Medicare coverage. According to the New York Times, 25 states have accepted federal funds to expand health care coverage for their neediest citizens.
Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature rejected Washington's money to expand health care despite multiple Democratic efforts to accept federal funds.
Walker said in a letter in 2012 that Wisconsin would defer federal money because “operating a state exchange would not provide the flexibility to meet our state’s unique needs or to protect our state’s taxpayers.”
Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, said Walker’s decision to deny federal funds “marred” the county’s effort to spread health care coverage.
State Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, said she would love to see Walker call a special session to discuss health care reform in Wisconsin. Sargent also said health care is a not a partisan issue because both Democratic and Republican states have accepted federal funds.
“These are our neighbors … health care is a fundamental right and they don’t have that,” Sargent said.
