On Medicaid’s Anniversary, Republicans Remind Voters They Should Be Rich To See A Doctor

MADISON, Wis. — Once again, Wisconsin Republicans are touting their extremely unpopular views on health insurance: they don’t want Wisconsinites to have it. On the anniversary of Medicaid, Wisconsin Republicans like state Senate candidate Stacey Klein and Senator Duey Stroebel are reminding Wisconsinites that their health is not a priority for the Republican caucus.

“For over a decade, Wisconsin Republicans have refused to lift a finger to help address the skyrocketing costs of health care in our states, and working Wisconsin families are paying the price,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Communications Director Joe Oslund. “Republicans like Stacey Klein, Duey Stroebel, Jessie Rodriguez, and Shannon Zimmerman would rather pander to Big Pharma than expand BadgerCare to help ensure tens of thousands of Wisconsinites are able to access the care they need.”

It’s clear that Wisconsin Republicans won’t expand BadgerCare:

• In an interview on WIZM’s La Crosse talk last month, State Senate Candidate Stacey Klein said Wisconsin shouldn’t expand Medicaid because that would make it harder to “pull that back” and rip away Wisconsinites’ health care in the future.

  HOST [00:22:10]: A thing we argue about here in Wisconsin is expanding Medicaid because we’re one of only ten states not to do that. And we’re essentially—it’s federal money that would be helping to subsidize Medicaid. But instead, our federal tax dollars go to these 40 other states for expanding their Medicaid. Why not just take the money? 

  STACEY KLEIN [00:22:31]: I understand that, but once government gets in, now it’s hard to pull that back if necessary. 

  HOST [00:22:37]: But it’s been 12 years. It’s been 12 years though. It’s not going anywhere.

• State Senator Duey Stroebel has repeatedly voted against expanding Medicaid in Wisconsin, even going as far as to claim providing health care coverage to an additional 90,000 Wisconsinites is “wrong” and “a bad idea.”

  

• State Representative Jessie Rodriguez said Wisconsin Republicans “cannot support” Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin. Rodriguez went on to say that Wisconsinites were more concerned with federal reimbursement rates than they were with being able to access the health care they need.

• It’s not enough that Hudson-area Representative Shannon Zimmerman voted to strip BadgerCare expansion from the state budget. Zimmerman claimed Medicaid expansion was an attempt to “buy Wisconsin into greater government dependence” rather than an effort to ensure Wisconsinites could access health care, calling efforts to expand Medicaid in Wisconsin “absurd.”