Affordable Care Act a Huge Advance for Wisconsin |
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Written by Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Robert Kraig | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monday, 23 March 2015 14:09 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/affordablecareact-s5.jpgFive years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act the law is guaranteeing Wisconsinites more freedom to control their own health decisions. But benefits are at risk due to inaction on Supreme Court threat. Reform more important in Wisconsin due to higher insurance costs. STATEWIDE - Five years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act the law is guaranteeing, more than any time in American history, the freedom of Wisconsinites to control their own health decisions. Before the Affordable Care Act passed, Americans faced shocking health insurance discrimination based on age, preexisting medical conditions, gender, and other factors. Today over 207,000 Wisconsinites have quality health coverage that can never be taken away by insurance companies. There are substantial tax subsidies to make health coverage affordable which have an especially important benefit in a high cost state like Wisconsin. Because Wisconsin health insurance premiums are higher than surrounding states, Wisconsin health consumers gain substantially more. Local numbers and comparison charts are below. As significant as these advances are, Governor Scott Walker’s refusal to prepare for the potential adverse decision in the U.S. Supreme Court decision of King v. Burwell threatens to take health coverage away from over 183,000 Wisconsinites who receive tax subsidies and have nowhere else to go. Many of these consumers have pre-existing conditions and faced shocking discrimination from insurance companies before the passage of health reform. Others were forced on the marketplace by Governor Walker’s ill-conceived decision to reject hundreds of millions of federal dollars for BadgerCare provided by the Affordable Care Act. “The advance in freedom provided by health reform is at risk in Wisconsin due to Governor Walker’s actions,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “It is political malpractice for Governor Walker not to prepare for a predictable disaster which could strip affordable health coverage from over 183,000 Wisconsinites. By failing to prepare a Wisconsin health insurance marketplace in the event the Supreme Court makes a damaging decision, Walker is putting at risk the lives and fundamental freedoms of people in every corner of Wisconsin.” Table 1: Affordable Care Act’s Tax Credits Very Effective At Making Private Insurance More Affordable (Click here to see data for more Metropolitan areas)
Data collected from Healthcare.gov and MNSure.org for 40 year old single applicant, non-smoking. Tax credits estimated for 40 year old single applicant making 200% of the federal poverty line, or $23,541 a year Table 2: Affordable Care Act’s Outlawing of Pre-existing Condition Discrimination Protects Thousands (Click here to see data for more Wisconsin localities)
Estimates from Families USA analysis of consumers in Wisconsin of non-institutionalized, non-Medicare-eligible population Table 3: Citizens Around Wisconsin Have Signed Up for Health Coverage (Click here to see data for more Wisconsin counties)
Source - County enrollment distribution based on Dept of Health Services June 2014 enrollment report adjusted for most recent February Healthcare.gov state enrollment numbers. Total tax credits are based on local enrollment and HHS reported average Wisconsin tax credit, annualized. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 23 March 2015 14:34 |