Milwaukee City Wire

Wisconsin state Sen. Chris Larson struggles to make sense of why the state remains one of only 11 across the country to not have expanded Medicaid coverage to the maximum of what’s allowed under federal law.

“It still boggles my mind that Wisconsin could cover 126,000 more people under BadgerCare while increasing state revenue by $1.3 billion and legislative Republicans are like 'nah' year after year,” Larson recently posted on Twitter. “When people can't afford health insurance, we all pay for it. Cruelty is expensive.”

With most state residents backing the push for expansion, Larson has plenty of support for his position. And while Wisconsin Watch reports the Wisconsin Department of Health Services pegs the number of added people that would be covered at closer to 90,000, officials add the 2023-25 biennial budget projects that the expansion would enroll about 61,100 parents and 28,600 adults without children.

Since taking office in 2019, Gov. Tony Evers has pushed nonstop for expansion under the federal Affordable Care Act. Currently, Wisconsin is one of only 11 states that has not expanded Medicaid coverage to 138% of the federal poverty level.

According to the Wisconsin Examiner, a recent poll commissioned by the American Cancer Society found that 70% of voters across the state support expanding BadgerCare.