and acts to abolish ACA with the other
GREEN BAY — President Donald Trump’s administration signed off Sunday on Gov. Scott Walker’s $200 million plan to lower Affordable Care Act premiums.
It was the latest effort by the GOP governor to work within the confines of Obamacare as he simultaneously tries to end the federal health care law.
"Washington failed and Wisconsin had to lead," Walker said Sunday at HSHS St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center.
Under Walker's plan, consumer costs are expected to go down by 3.5 percent on average next year for individuals getting insurance through the marketplaces established by the act.
Democrats dismissed Walker's plan as an election-year effort by the governor to score points on health care while refusing to accept additional federal money under Obamacare for the state's BadgerCare Plus health program.
“Rather than expanding BadgerCare and saving Wisconsin taxpayers over $1 billion, Gov. Walker has opted to put his political ambitions first and spend $200 million on a plan that covers fewer people,” said a statement from Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse).
Wisconsin taxpayers will spend $34 million on Walker's plan. The remaining $166 million will come from federal taxpayers.
Walker and lawmakers approved their plan in February but needed permission from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services because the federal government would fund the bulk of it.
They received the federal approval Sunday, and within hours Walker put his signature on it during his stop here. The plan will take effect Jan. 1.
Under the plan, the number of people getting insurance on the Obamacare marketplace would dip in 2019 to an estimated 184,700.
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