Wisconsin would begin medical insurance market, public possibility below Gov. Tony Evers’ funds | Native Information

The Federal Affordable Care Act market is located at health.gov.

AP PHOTO

David Wahlberg | Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin would create a state health insurance market and public option plan that would likely allow people to participate in BadgerCare, the state’s main Medicaid program, under the budget proposed by Governor Tony Evers.

The moves could save the state money and reassure many who may lose coverage if the Affordable Care Act is abolished, the governor’s office said. Twenty-one states have state marketplaces, and at least two – Colorado and Washington – are known to have public option programs.

“A public option provides an affordable alternative for many Wisconsinites who are struggling to pay their medical bills and cannot afford the co-payments, deductibles, and other co-payment requirements of plans on the market,” said a summary of the Evers budget.

The proposals come on top of expanding Medicaid, which would save the state $ 634 million by drawing additional federal funding and covering 90,900 additional people, while expanding services like addiction treatment and allowing more payments to providers like hospitals and nursing homes said Evers. This move is likely to be opposed by the Republican-controlled legislature, as foreseen in Evers’ 2019 budget.

Rather than leveraging the Health Act’s federal market to insure people who aren’t covered by jobs or government plans, Wisconsin would spend $ 2.1 million to open its own market, initially on the federal platform in 2023 and entirely state-run in 2024.