In a Washington Post op-ed today, Governor Walker attacks the federal health care reform law. His column draws selectively from the actuarial report done for the state by MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber, and studiously avoids the report’s many findings that shed a positive light on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In addition, it appears to misrepresent what the ACA would mean for BadgerCare.
The op-ed is similar to a Walker Administration PowerPoint presentation that the state unveiled last year at the same time that it released the actuarial report. A Capital Times article last August reported that Professor Gruber was critical of the negative spin on the report:
“They picked out the most negative aspects of the report to highlight. …Overall I think health care reform is a great thing for Wisconsin.”
A response today by Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, reinforces Gruber’s criticism and says the Governor’s op-ed “cherry picks data” that puts a negative spin on the report’s findings, while once again omitting the positive conclusions. For example, the op-ed and the state’s other summaries of the actuarial report neglect to mention the key finding that the health care reform law will yield a net reduction of 340,000 uninsured Wisconsinites (a 65% drop). Kraig’s response also cited some of the other omissions, including:
- “… findings that showed Wisconsinites who buy insurance on their own will receive $729 million in federal tax credits and subsidies to make health insurance more affordable and that 41% will receive significant premium reductions averaging 56%.
- “…the report finding that 47% of Wisconsin small employers will see premium reductions averaging 16% or that most small employers who provide health coverage to their employees will continue to do so.”
One of the most perplexing arguments in the Governor’s op-ed is the statement that: “Approximately 122,000 parents, caretakers and pregnant women with an income of more than 133 percent of the federal poverty level will no longer be eligible for Medicaid.” The biggest problem with that assertion is that it suggests that the law will set a cap on BadgerCare eligibility at 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL). The ACA does nothing of the sort.
In 2014, after the new exchanges are in place to help low and middle income families purchase subsidized coverage, Wisconsin will have the choice of lowering the ceiling on BadgerCare eligibility of adults to 133% of FPL or maintaining the current eligibility caps (of 200% of FPL for parents and caretakers, and 300% for pregnant women).
In addition, the law gives Wisconsin the legal option, along with generous funding, to expand coverage to 133% of FPL for adults who don’t have dependent children. Wisconsin currently provides coverage to some adults in that category, but there is a waiting list of about 134,000. It’s puzzling that the Governor expresses concern that BadgerCare coverage might be cut off for adults over the 133% level, yet his remarks to date suggest that he doesn’t support expanding eligibility to the very low income adults below that level.
Among the other very disappointing omissions in the op-ed is any discussion of the increased federal funding Wisconsin would receive to help reduce the number of uninsured Wisconsinites by 340,000 (with half of those being covered through expansion of BadgerCare). A report issued today by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains that the Medicaid expansion will cover 17 million low-income people at a very modest cost to states, and savings in state-funded services for the uninsured will offset part (and possibly all) of the modest state share.
We’ll revisit that issue after pulling together additional information about the ways that the ACA helps Wisconsin fiscally, as well as by slowing the growth in health care costs, substantially improving access to coverage, and improving the quality and dependability of coverage for those of us who are fortunate enough to currently have insurance.
Jon Peacock
