Walker gets OK for plan to lower Obamacare costs
GREEN BAY – President Donald Trump’s administration signed off Sunday on Gov. Scott Walker’s $200 million plan to lower Affordable Care Act premiums.
It was the latest effort by the GOP governor to work within the confines of Obamacare as he simultaneously tries to end the federal health care law.
“Washington failed and Wisconsin had to lead,” Walker said Sunday at HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center.
Under Walker’s plan, consumer costs are expected to go down by 3.5 percent on average next year for individuals getting insurance through the marketplaces established by the act. Democrats dismissed Walker’s plan as an election-year effort by the governor to score points on health care while refusing to accept additional federal money under Obamacare for the state’s BadgerCare Plus health program.
“Rather than expanding BadgerCare and saving Wisconsin taxpayers over $1 billion, Gov. Walker has opted to put his political ambitions first and spend $200 million on a plan that covers fewer people,” said a statement from Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse).
Wisconsin taxpayers will spend $34 million on Walker’s plan. The remaining $166 million will come from federal taxpayers.
Walker and lawmakers approved their plan in February but needed permission from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services because the federal government would fund the bulk of it.
They received the federal approval Sunday, and within hours Walker put his signature on it during his stop here. The plan will take effect Jan. 1.
Under the plan, the number of people getting insurance on the Obamacare marketplace would dip in 2019 to an estimated 184,700.
The program — dubbed the Health Care Stability Plan — is targeted at consumers who buy individual health insurance through the Affordable Care Act but who make too much money to qualify for federal subsidies to lower their premiums. Those consumers saw their premiums go up by 44 percent in 2018 in Wisconsin.
Walker called those earlier increases “unacceptable” and “unsustainable” for small business owners, farmers and families.
“Thankfully, the federal government is giving us the flexibility to implement a Wisconsin-based solution to help stabilize premiums,” Walker said in a statement.
Walker’s plan will help insurers cover the cost of patients with claims of $50,000 to $250,000. With the Walker plan covering half those costs, insurers will be able to charge lower premiums.
Under the plan, premiums on average will drop by 3.5 percent from current levels and will be 11 percent lower than they would have been in 2019 without the plan, according to his administration. Walker noted not everyone will see a reduction in their premiums.
Now, individuals using the Obamacare marketplaces in Wisconsin on average pay a monthly premium of $762.
Walker’s plan won the backing of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, though the group contended the government needs to pay hospitals more to care for people who get health care through BadgerCare and other Medicaid programs.
“Governor Walker’s Health Care Stability Plan is a crucial step in protecting access to Wisconsin’s top-ranked health care,” the group’s president and chief executive officer, Eric Borgerding, said in a statement.
Walker has pursued the program to bring down premiums as he has separately sought to end Obamacare. This year, he gave Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel permission to join with attorneys general from other states to file a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act.
State Schools Superintendent Tony Evers, one of the eight Democrats seeking to replace Walker, issued a statement saying Walker over the years “has chosen to pick political fights instead of working together to lower our health care costs.”
“He championed repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act when he ran for president — including eliminating protections for those with pre-existing conditions,” Evers’ statement said. “He made this mess and the news today just further highlights that this is an election-year stunt.”
Another Democratic candidate for governor, former state Rep. Kelda Roys, also cast skepticism on Walker’s plan.
“If Walker got his way, tens of thousands of Wisconsinites could have lost the insurance they rely on,” she said in a statement.
An Aug. 14 primary will determine which Democrat will face Walker in November.