IN MY OPINION: Wisconsin’s health care success proves it doesn’t need Medicaid expansion

Twenty years ago, amid a strong economy, there were six workers for every one person on Medicaid in Wisconsin.

Today, there are two and one-half workers for every one person on Medicaid in our state.

The creeping growth of this welfare program through both good and bad economies serves as a stark warning against a costly and unnecessary expansion today.
States that chose to expand Medicaid after the federal government enticed them with supposedly free dollars did so because of two broad reasons.

First, a significant percentage of their populations did not have health insurance.

Second, their existing Medicaid programs did not cover all individuals up to the federal poverty line.

On both counts Wisconsin is already a national leader.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 95% of the Wisconsin population is covered by a health care plan, a figure comfortably above the national coverage rate and tied for third place among all states.

Data from the state Department of Health Services shows that only 2% of the state’s population lacked health care coverage for at least 12 months.

Among states that have not expanded Medicaid, Wisconsin’s coverage rate is the highest.

Wisconsin currently offers Medicaid to every single person under the federal poverty level.

This is important because Obamacare subsidies start for individuals at the federal poverty level and are available in reduced amounts for individuals and families that make up to 400% of the federal poverty level. Expanding Medicaid reduces the flow of these federal subsidies and puts a huge financial burden on the state of Wisconsin.

If Wisconsin were to expand Medicaid today, it would pull over 40,000 consumers (roughly half of the anticipated 82,000 new Medicaid participants) out of the federally subsidized private health insurance marketplace.

This would not only add new and unnecessary costs for the state, it would also shrink the private market, costing the average family of four $708 annually, according to a study by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy.

States that have expanded Medicaid are beginning to rethink the wisdom of their decision.

Since expanding Medicaid in 2014, Rhode Island has seen an unanticipated 63% increase in enrollment.

This led to Medicaid consuming over a third of the state’s budget. Wisconsin spent about 18% of its total budget on Medicaid in 2018.  

Wisconsin’s unique success in access to health care and the overwhelming challenges faced by states that have already proceeded down the path of expansion prove we don’t need to expand Medicaid.

The author, of Cedarburg, is a Republican representing Wisconsin’s 20th Senate District.