Important Healthcare Investments Eliminated from Budget
 
Statement from Sara Finger, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health (WAWH):
 
“GOP leaders approved a woefully insufficient budget and blocked healthcare investments we deserve and need. The Republican approved budget fails to fully expand Medicaid, and prevents our state from attracting $160 million a year in federal funds which could be invested in maternal and child health, mental health, and education.
 
“70% of Wisconsinites in a recent poll support Medicaid expansion, yet the vast majority of GOP legislators oppose it, and pushed through a budget that removed full expansion and left hundreds of millions of dollars on the table. This is what extreme gerrymandering looks like, and the will of the people will continue to be obstructed until Wisconsin solves our gerrymandering problem.
 
“Republicans leaders have once again played politics to score political points with their funders and base and have stripped our communities from the opportunities outlined by Governor Evers in his refreshing budget.
 
“State budgets are moral documents that offer a powerful reflection of our leaders’ collective priorities. We are grateful to Governor Evers for putting forth his positive policy vision for women’s wellbeing in his bold budget proposal. His budget priorities reflected the values and needs of Wisconsin women and families after eight long years of blatant disregard for the public’s health and economic security. We understand why the Governor is accepting this budget, but since healthcare polices needed by women in girls were largely cut out and he must work with us to find ways to support and move these policies forward.
 
“We remain committed to working the Evers Administration and champions in the Capitol to advance our shared policy vision outside of the budget process.  Wisconsin women deserve to be heard and we won’t stop holding our leaders accountable for their failures to invest in our health, safety and economic security.”
 

Taken from materials from FamiliesUSA:

On July 9, 2019, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans will hear oral arguments in the case Texas v. United States. This case threatens access to health care and financial security for millions of Americans with 153,000 people estimated to lose coverage in Wisconsin. 

The case before the Fifth Circuit is based on an appeal of the dangerous ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor in December 2018 that would strike down the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA), including provisions that:

• Protect people with preexisting conditions.
• Improve benefits for people who buy individual coverage and those who receive coverage from their employers.
• Reduce Medicare enrollees’ drug costs.
• Improve the long-term financial stability of Medicare.
• Expand Medicaid.
• Make improvements in hospital and nursing home care.

This case is an extremely overt form of health care sabotage. Millions of Americans rely on the ACA and if it hadn’t been for the ACA, many Americans would not be alive today.

While the case is under appeal, it is important that consumers and their advocates know that the ACA is still law of the land!

To learn more, link here. And stay tuned for more updates on this case.