GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Following its passage in the Wisconsin Legislature, Governor Scott Walker continues to tout a bill that aims to lower healthcare premiums for those buying in the private marketplace.
Walker notes individual plan costs have jumped an average of 36% this year.
He tells WTAQ’s Mid-Morning News that this measure, which calls for requesting a necessary federal waiver, will provide relief.
“Not only making it more affordable, but we think a whole bunch of plans will come back into the state, after having left under the Obamacare marketplace.”
Walker believes this solution is more reponsible than the Democrats’ alternative.
“The left in Wisconsin wants us to take more Medicaid dollars and make more people dependent on the government. We think that’s a poor idea.”
In addition to Wisconsin Democrats, Walker says the U.S. Senate failed on the healthcare discussion.
“We gave them a year to repeal Obamacare, which is itself collapsing. It’s not just Republicans saying it. We had hoped the federal government would change things. They have yet to act on that.”
The reform is estimated to drop rates 13% in 2019 and 12% in 2020.
State officials at least $150-million dollars of the program’s anticipated $200-million dollar cost will be covered by the federal government.
Meanwhile, another newly-passed bill allows builders to fill certain Wisconsin marshes and bogs without a permit.
Republicans note the current permitting process can drag on for months, costing developers thousands of dollars that end up getting passed on to property users.
They say it will only affect 2% of the state’s wetlands, ones that would be filled anyway through the permitting process.
Walker says it’s all about striking a balance between the environment and the economy.
“I’m an Eagle Scout. We were taught our campsite should be cleaner when we leave than when we found it. I want to have a good environment, not just for me but for my kids and someday my grandkids, but I also want them to have a job.”
Democrats argued the measure will lead to the destruction of large amounts of wetland acres.
