A report by the Democratic-leaning Citizen Action of Wisconsin challenges Governor Scott Walker's refusal to accept federal Medicaid money for BadgerCare has resulted in higher health insurance costs here than elsewhere.
During a media call with reporters this week, Citizen Action Director Robert Kraig said with increased transparency from Obamacare, they were able to gather data on what other states are paying versus here. He says three conclusions came out of the data..
"....and what jumped out of that report is that taking the Medicaid money, having a robust rate review and having prior approval for insurance rates which a number of states have done, and another one which would require a Constitutional Amendment which is an elected insurance commissioner...."
The report finds that the average Wisconsin resident will pay over $250 more per year because of failure to accept the funds for BadgerCare, while having a robust system of reviewing insurance rates could have reduced rates as much as $747 a year for the average individual plan.
A report from the Walker Administration to legislators this week said Wisconsin's Medicaid program shows a $93 million deficit.
Walker and other Republicans say the money to pay from the federal government is not there to begin with.
The Citizen Action of Wisconsin report is on theirwebsite.
