By refusing to expand Medicaid, Scott Walker is rejecting more than $1 billion in federal money for the program and sending Wisconsin’s tax dollars to other states.
A recent study shows that, over the next decade, states who reject Medicaid expansion will continue to leave taxpayers on the hook for billions in uncompensated care costs like emergency room visits by uninsured residents. According to ABC for Health, Wisconsin hospitals provide more than $1.2 billion in uncompensated care each year.
The study concludes that taxpayers in states like Wisconsin that refuse to expand their Medicaid programs will remain on the hook for federal taxes intended for covering costs in other states – without benefiting their own.
“Scott Walker’s near-sighted decision to reject the expansion of BadgerCare for those who need it the most will cost Wisconsin billions in federal funding and cost taxpayers billions more down the road,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Monday. “We need a governor who will work to move Wisconsin forward, not do everything in his power to hold us back.”
