Medicaid expansion means lower Marketplace premiums along with expanded healthcare access
If Wisconsin chooses to become the 37th state to expand its Medicaid program, about 80,000 additional people would be covered. In addition to ensuring access to affordable health care for so many, this expansion would quality Wisconsin for a very large increase in federal funding, yielding a net reduction in state spending for BadgerCare of about $160 million per year.
Many lawmakers have raised questions about how this expansion might affect those covered by private insurance, such as through Marketplace plans created by the Affordable Care Act. Thankfully, those questions have been answered by experts who have studied the impacts of Medicaid expansion on the many other states that have chosen to increase access to healthcare.
