Scott Walker Absent as Bipartisan Coalition of Governors Call for Common Sense in Health Care Debate

MADISON, Wis. — As Republicans in Washington, D.C. continue their streak of failure on health care, a bipartisan group of governors issued a joint statement opposing a reckless plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no replacement and calling for lawmakers to work in “… an open, bipartisan way to provide better insurance for all Americans.” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who also heads the Republican Governors Association, was not among those signing on to the letter. According to One Wisconsin Now Deputy Director Mike Browne that raises the question: what is it about his fellow governors’ message that Scott Walker opposes?

“A bipartisan group of governors is calling for common sense in the healthcare debate. They are urging Congress to oppose a disastrous stunt that would leave millions without health care and instead work together, in the open to improve insurance coverage,” said Browne. “What in his fellow Democratic and Republican governors’ statements does Scott Walker disagree with?”

Browne noted that Walker has a track record of opposing common sense when it comes to federal healthcare legislation. After Speaker Paul Ryan led the U.S. House in passing a plan that would have stripped healthcare from over 20 million Americans, Gov. Walker suggested he would be interested in implementing in Wisconsin provisions of the bill that would allow insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and to sell insurance policies that would not cover essential benefits like coverage for hospitalization, immunizations and maternity care.

Walker also has refused to accept expanded federal funding for Medicaid available to Wisconsin, a decision that has already cost state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, it could get even worse. Provisions included in both the U.S. House and Senate repeals of the Affordable Care Act would short Wisconsin nearly $40 billion by 2025 because of Gov. Walker’s politically-motivated intransigence.

“It’s doesn’t seem like it’s too much to ask our Governor to join with a bipartisan group of his fellow executives and make a statement opposing a political stunt that would cause very real harm to millions of people. But Scott Walker’s national political ambitions continue to stand in the way of him from doing even that,” concluded Browne.