Hospital Reaction to Walker Plan
Governor Scott Walker spoke out on why he's saying "no" to Medicaid on Thursday afternoon at the Marshfield Clinic.
"We did not accept the false choice that Washington gave us," says Walker. "Most other Governors, I believe in fact every other Governor in the country, either picked between expansion or not."
He says his plan will benefit area hospitals because it will reduce the number of uninsured as well as the number of people permanently dependent on the government for health insurance.
Governor Walker says there are two problems hospitals face right now. The first is uncompensated care, and the other is that Medicaid typically does not reimburse at the same level as a private payer source.
However, with Governor Walker's plan, less people are gaining coverage than if Medicaid were expanded in the state. Those numbers are 224,580 versus 252,678 -- that's about 28,000 less people.
