Gov. Walker turns down federal funding for Medicaid expansion

MADISON, Wis. (WFRV) -Governor Scott Walker is turning down federal money when it comes to the state's BadgerCare program. It's a decision that affects tens of thousands of Wisconsinites.

Rather than accepting more than a billion dollars from the federal government to expand Medicaid in Wisconsin, Walker has outlined a different approach.

The governor said his proposal will reduce the number of uninsured individuals in the state by nearly 50%. It involves tightening income eligibility for Medicaid, lifting a cap on a program that covers childless adults and also forcing more people to buy insurance through a government-run marketplace known as an exchange.  This proposal affects non-elderly, non-disabled adults. 

Wisconsinites in poverty will be covered by Medicaid and those above poverty up to four times the poverty level would receive federal health insurance premium subsidies to purchase health insurance offered in the exchange. 

"To me that just seems like a logical way to go because, in the end, not only is it better for you and me as the taxpayer because there's less of a federal and state match," Gov. Walker explained. "We have to plug into Medicaid. It empowers people to have more control over their lives"

So far, six republican governors have agreed to the Medicaid expansion, while fourteen have turned it down.