Republican refusal to expand BadgerCare costs Wisconsin taxpayers $206 million

Remind me again how Republicans in Wisconsin are so “fiscally responsible.”

Wisconsin taxpayers would have saved $206 million over two years — 73% more than previously estimated — if officials had fully expanded its main health care program for the poor under the federal Affordable Care Act, a new nonpartisan report shows.

If officials decide to change course and expand the program in the next state budget, state taxpayers would save another $261 million to $315 million through June 2017, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The bureau serves the Legislature and is widely respected by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.

As if Republicans in Wisconsin refusing to increase access to healthcare for all Wisconsinites wasn’t terrible enough from a moral standpoint, it’s also grossly irresponsible from a fiscal standpoint.

After all, $206 million is a lot of money, and that’s money that could have been spent to improve education, combat poverty, create jobs, or any number of other worthwhile programs.

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1 thought on “Republican refusal to expand BadgerCare costs Wisconsin taxpayers $206 million

  1. There are so many issues that Walker has failed miserably to address or has made a horrific choice unfavorably affecting the health, safety, employment, economics, environment, social, educational, and other issues impacting almost all citizens, that one has to wonder how anyone except the 1% could vote for him.

    The extent of Walker’s incompetence and intellectual failings sets a record in the history of Wisconsin’s governors.

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