As the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee holds hearings on the upcoming budget, a common refrain keeps popping up. It’s time for Wisconsin to finally accept the federal Medicaid expansion. That sentiment is not limited to the citizens showing up to hearings; the most recent Marquette poll showed that 70 percent of Wisconsinites are in favor of expanding Medicaid.
It’s easy to understand why Medicaid expansion has widespread support. Accepting the additional federal dollars would allow the state to provide health care coverage to more than 82,000 Wisconsinites who make between 100 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level. For the next two years alone, that’s $324 million worth of federal funding.
Medicaid expansion would make people healthier across all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties. As researchers take a look at health outcomes in states that accepted the expansion, the results are staggering. In states that expanded Medicaid eligibility, more low-income adults had their cancer diagnosed early, when the disease is generally easier to treat. In states that have accepted the Medicaid expansion, more people have access to treatments to fight opioid addiction.
The body of evidence supporting Medicaid expansion is so strong that the conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) deliberately tried to muddy the conversation by paying for a sloppy and dishonest anti-expansion study that found the move would cost the state $600 million annually. A team including economists and health policy researchers from UW-Madison and Johns Hopkins University found the WILL study used “problematic” methodology. A report released April 15 by two UW-Madison economists confirmed that WILL’s methodology was “flawed” and concluded that Medicaid expansion would save the state $100 million a year.
Freeing up $324 million in the state budget would also have seismic impacts for the health of all Wisconsinites. Under Gov. Tony Evers’ budget, the savings from the Medicaid expansion could be used to fight some of Wisconsin’s most pressing public health problems. The governor’s budget would invest $50 million in reducing childhood lead poisoning through services such as increased testing and lead hazard abatement. Additionally, the governor’s budget would boost funding for perinatal and postpartum care to ensure that the youngest Wisconsinites all get a healthy start in life.
Accepting the Medicaid expansion would also create jobs and keep our rural communities strong, through additional health care dollars for our local hospitals and clinics. States that accept the Medicaid expansion have had greater success in keeping rural hospitals open. In rural areas throughout Wisconsin, the local hospital system is one of the biggest employers in the community. The closure of a hospital also means that folks often have to drive long distances to access care, which is a particularly big barrier for seniors. Without jobs and access to health care, small towns wither.
With all these benefits, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could have turned down the Medicaid expansion. But former Gov. Scott Walker refused to accept the Medicaid expansion throughout his time in office, mostly so he could appeal to the far-right conservatives who refuse to accept any action of the Obama administration. Walker put his presidential ambitions above the best interests of Wisconsinites across the state.
But Walker isn’t governor anymore. He just some middle-aged dude who tweets a lot. And Medicaid expansion is something that has now been supported by Republicans and Democrats alike throughout the nation. As of 2019, 37 states and the District of Columbia have accepted the Medicaid expansion. That includes all of our Midwestern neighbors — Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. Even strongly conservative states like Indiana, Louisiana and Utah have accepted the expansion.
With the widespread embrace of the expansion across the nation, it becomes more and more unlikely that the federal government would reverse course and eliminate this funding without providing a replacement. Medicaid expansion is here to stay. The train is chugging along now, with little fear of derailment. It’s time for Wisconsin to climb aboard.
Evers is showing leadership for all Wisconsinites by advocating for this responsible and overdue action. However, the governor needs legislative approval in order to accept the expansion. There are some, like Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), who want to continue Walker’s legacy of putting politics above the health and economic prosperity of the people of Wisconsin.
But Vos doesn’t speak for all Republican legislators in this state. The data is clear; Accepting the Medicaid expansion would help people in their districts and free up hundreds of millions of dollars in the state budget. Party doesn’t matter. All 99 members of the Assembly and 33 senators need to hear from their constituents. It’s time for Wisconsin to take bipartisan action and join the overwhelming majority of other states across the nation by accepting the Medicaid expansion.
Alan Talaga co-writes the Off the Square cartoon with Jon Lyons.
