Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Ron Kind announced that he joined a bicameral coalition in urging Congressional leaders to include Medicaid expansion in any future reconciliation package. Expanding Medicaid will help an estimated 4.4 million Americans – including 91,000 Wisconsinites – access affordable health care.
“Saving taxpayer dollars, supporting our rural hospitals, ensuring more Wisconsinites have access to quality and affordable care – these are all things that can be accomplished by expanding BadgerCare,” said Rep. Ron Kind. “We need to increase access to coverage and expand BadgerCare once and for all.”
Due to former Governor Scott Walker and the Wisconsin State Legislature’s refusal to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid, Wisconsin is one of just 12 non-expansion states despite significant financial incentives offered through the Affordable Care Act and the American Rescue Plan. Last year, the State Legislature caused Wisconsin to miss out on a one-time bonus of $1 billion in American Rescue Plan relief funding by deciding to reject Gov. Evers’ plan to expand Medicaid.
In addition to the one-time $1 billion through the American Rescue Plan, Wisconsin would have seen approximately $635 million in additional savings over two years under Medicaid expansion based on estimates from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. According to the Fiscal Bureau, Wisconsin would have seen an additional $2.8 billion in savings from 2013 to 2019 had it accepted full Medicaid expansion.
Rep. Kind serves on the Subcommittee on Health for the Ways and Means Committee, the most powerful – and the oldest – committee in the House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over tax measures, the management of public debt, trade and tariff laws, Social Security, Medicare, pensions, and many other economic growth measures.
Read the letter here.
