Governor Scott Walker has signed a bill extending BadgerCare Plus coverage for some 72,000 state residents for three months, while delaying it for more than 80,000 childless adults. The special session measure was passed by the state Senate on Thursday, and by the Assembly earlier this month.
“This bill gives the federal government more time to fix major issues with the Affordable Care Act and it gives Wisconsinites more time to make a logical health care transition,” Walker said in a statement released by his office. “In 2014, everyone living in poverty will be covered – for the first time – under Medicaid in Wisconsin. The waiting lists and enrollment caps that once denied coverage to our most vulnerable citizens will be gone. I thank members of the Legislature for their bipartisan support.”
Democrats have consistently argued that Walker should have accepted federal money to expand Medicaid services in Wisconsin, while Republicans have portrayed the action as something they’re being forced to do by the failings of Obamacare.
