Dive Brief:
- Wisconsin has teamed up with Texas and several other states on a lawsuit challenging a fee the Affordable Care Act imposes on for-profit insurance companies contracting with states to manage the care of their Medicaid beneficiaries, the Journal Sentinel reports.
- At issue is the fact that the ACA requires states to reimburse the insurers for the fee, which the states argue equates to a tax on them. Wisconsin officials say the fee has cost the state about $23 million so far.
- Yet Wisconsin is expected to spend $678.6 million more than it needs to through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017 by being the only state to expand Medicaid under the ACA but refuse the available federal dollars currently available to cover it.
Dive Insight:
While the two moves may appear financially contradictory, it seems they are both a matter of principle.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Scott Walker said they were both aimed at protecting taxpayers from the "costly consequences of the ACA," including uncertain federal funding.
"Once again, we are taking action to protect Wisconsin taxpayers from the adverse effects the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act has on our citizens," Walker stated. "This lawsuit is meant to ensure Wisconsinites are not left paying this unconstitutional and coercive tax, which could result in a loss of millions of dollars to Wisconsin's Medicaid program."
Some disagree with Walker.
Bobby Peterson, executive director of public interest law firm ABC for Health told the Journal Sentinel, "He's looking for pennies on the floor of his car, when he should be looking at the bags of money in front of him."
"While $23 million isn't peanuts, it pales in comparison to the money we are leaving on the table for ideological reasons," said Jon Peacock, research director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.