Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, an avowed opponent of Obamacare, signed a bill into law Wednesday that will position the state to receive $150 million in federal dollars to help shore up its healthcare marketplace.
The bill allows the state to apply for a federal waiver under Obamacare, whereby it will ask to set up a $200 million reinsurance fund, 75 percent of which would be paid for by the federal government. These funds help pay for the costs of the sickest enrollees in a marketplace, thereby lowering costs across the board and reducing the amount of money that the federal government would pay to subsidize premiums.
The reinsurance money will lower healthcare premiums customers in the individual market by 13 percent in 2019 and 12 percent in 2020, according to state estimates. It will pay for 80 precent of medical claims that are between $50,000 and $250,000.
Walker is up for reelection this year and has supported the repeal of Obamacare. He framed the reinsurance bill as the state taking action after the federal government did not.
“It’s pretty simple; Washington has failed. They had a year to try and fix this, it has failed, and so we’re going to fix it here in Wisconsin,” Walker said during the bill’s signing at Tomah Memorial Hospital.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin issued a statement saying that the reinsurance was necessary because Walker had worked to “sabotage” Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act.
“Today Gov. Scott Walker is trumpeting his election year attempt to disguise just how utterly damaging his years of fighting the Affordable Care Act have been and the toll Republican sabotage on health care has taken on Wisconsin families,” Democrats said.
The bill received support from both parties when it passed the legislature.
A bill to offer a nationwide reinsurance program has not yet passed Congress, though it may be included as part of a long-term spending bill slated for passage in March.
