Badgercare expansion rally in Wausau. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Citizen Action Wisconsin continued its statewide tour supporting Badgercare expansion with a stop in Wausau on Thursday.
Executive Director Robert Kraig says as they’ve traveled the state they’re hearing more and more calls to accept federal dollars to expand the program as a way to help expand access to healthcare.
“The unaffordability of health care and lack of access to it is a huge public concern,” said Kraig. “People are skipping the medical care that they need because they can’t afford it.”
He says the state is also losing out financially because under the current Badgercare setup, more money is being paid to cover fewer people. “For this two-year state budget we turned down $2.2 billion to fund Badgercare for roughly 90,000 more people. And because of the way we are doing Badgercare we are losing an additional $1.6 billion in the state budget [for] general purpose revenue which could be used for schools, shared revenue, or childcare.”
During the rally some, including Kraig, called on Governor Tony Evers to veto any budget that doesn’t include an expansion of Badgercare with federal dollars. Kraig said while that would force negotiations between the sides, even if it means having a budget impasse.
Residents from both Marathon and Lincoln Counties spoke out in support of Badgercare as part of the event. A similar rally was held in La Crosse earlier this week, and the group plans another event in Green Bay for Friday.
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