Citizen Action of Wisconsin held a media call today with U.S. Congressman Mark Pocan to respond to U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan's latest budget. Congressman Pocan serves on the House Committee on Budget, and is engaged in the process taking place today to consider Ryan’s budget.
“The GOP Budget we are considering today represents little more than recycled policies that have already been rejected by the American people and unrealistic proposals that will never occur. From keeping the sequester in place, to turning Medicare into a voucher program, to devastating tax increases for middle class families, this budget will harm our economic growth and stunt the positive gains we’ve made,” said U.S. Congressman Mark Pocan (WI-02), member of the House Committee on the Budget. “Instead, our focus should be on growing our economy and creating an environment where businesses can expand and hire workers. When we invest in infrastructure, education and research and development, we support our small business owners and create jobs for Wisconsin.”
“Citizen Action of Wisconsin strongly opposes Paul Ryan’s attack on health security,” said Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “Access to affordable health care is a necessity for all Americans. It is especially important for seniors who have earned the freedom of a secure retirement. As a country we learned over half a century ago that private for-profit health insurance does not work for seniors, yet Ryan is determined to repeat the life threatening mistakes of the past.”
Citizen Action of Wisconsin echoes Congressman Mark Pocan’s call to take progressive Wisconsin ideas nationally as an alternative to Ryan’s draconian budget, especially the concept of using government negotiating power to lower exorbitant prescription drug prices. Wisconsin’s SeniorCare program has successfully negotiated millions of dollars prescription drug cost savings for our state’s seniors and is a model for how the Federal Government could find efficiencies without cutting seniors benefits or medical providers.
“Citizen Action of Wisconsin supports Congressman Mark Pocan’s effort to ensure the freedom and health security of all Americans, especially those of Medicare age. Access to affordable health care makes it possible for seniors to enjoy the freedom of a secure retirement”, said Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “As a country we learned over half a century ago that private for-profit health insurance does not work for seniors, yet Ryan is determined to repeat the life threatening mistakes of the past.”
Likewise, Citizen Action of Wisconsin echoes Congressman Mark Pocan’s call to take progressive Wisconsin ideas nationally, especially the concept of using government negotiating power to lower exorbitant prescription drug prices. Wisconsin’s SeniorCare program has successfully negotiated millions of dollars prescription drug cost savings for our state’s seniors and is a model for how the Federal Government could find efficiencies without cutting seniors benefits or medical providers.
Robert Kraig speaks at State Capitol media conference with Congressman Mark Pocan
“Senator Ron Johnson had the opportunity to stand with hard working Wisconsinites; instead he chose to filibuster the Senate Bill that would have averted the Sequester,” said Jennifer Epps-Addison, Economic Justice Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “Make no mistake, the refusal to act by Senator Johnson and his tea-party conservative co-conspirators shows complete disregard for the devastation these unnecessary cuts will cause in the lives of Wisconsin families. Senator Johnson has once again chosen to protect the interests of millionaires and big corporations, instead of his constituents.”
Jennifer Epps-Addison speaks to a reporter this week in Milwaukee
“We can fix this, but the path forward requires everyone, including millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share,” Epps-Addison continued. “End tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. End tax breaks for oil companies and make the wealthiest Americans pay taxes at the same rate they paid in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. And put an end to wasteful Pentagon spending – beginning with the albatross known as the F-35 fighter jet. It’s time to invest in economy boosting policies like increasing education spending, which would create more than twice as many jobs as spending on bloated Pentagon defense contracts like the ones handed out to Halliburton,” concluded Epps-Addison.
“The issue before us today is not the size of our government. The issue is who our government works for – the super-rich and CEO campaign contributors or working families and the middle class? We need a Congress that stands – and an America that works – for all of us. Because we are all in this together,” concluded Robert Kraig.
With Sequester Looming, Community Groups Demand Senator Ron Johnson Protect the Interests of the People of Wisconsin, Not Corporate Special Interests and Defense Contractors.
As part of a National Day of Action across the U.S., members of Citizen Action of Wisconsin and community partners gathered at the Downtown Milwaukee Social Security office to demand politicians put an end to wasteful Pentagon spending, say no to cuts in vital programs and services, and focus on creating jobs and opportunity. After brief speeches, the group passed out flyers to low wage workers in the Grand Avenue Mall and marched to Senator Ron Johnson’s office where they delivered more than 3,000 petitions calling on Senator Johnson to pull the pork from the pentagon.
“Pull the Pork from the Pentagon” events are taking place in Wisconsin and in more than two dozen states across the country today. Nationally, more than 100,000 USAction members have signed petitions demanding that Congress take action.
“Pull the Pork from the Pentagon,” the National Day of Action, is taking place as Congress faces a series of deadlines on our country’s budget priorities, including possible automatic spending cuts scheduled to take place beginning Friday.
“We have to stop paying for the things we can’t afford so that we can afford the things our families need,” said Jennifer Epps-Addison, Economic Justice Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “This includes Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and the Affordable Care Act. And it includes discretionary domestic programs such as Head Start, nutrition aid, job training, education and cancer screening, just to name a few.”
Epps-Addison noted that the heads of three of America’s largest military contractors earn a combined $74.4 million a year – the head of Northrop Gunman makes $26 million; the head of Lockheed Martin, $25.4 million; and the head of Boeing, $23 million.
“At issue today is not the size of government but rather who government works for – military contractor CEOs or working families and the middle class,” said Lori Fatla, public school teacher and Citizen Action Member. “We must recognize that strength and respect abroad are built, and based, on economic strength at home. And we cannot thrive if obsolete and unnecessary weapons systems are consuming our precious resources.”
Can't make it to an event? Call your Senators at (888) 872-1238 and ask them to Pull the Pork from the Pentagon! Just use the Click-to-Call tool below and we'll connect you directly to your Senators' offices.
Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) held a media conference today with Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin Robert Kraig, highlighting the urgent need to avert the sequester and protect Wisconsin jobs and middle class families. Unless Congress acts, $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts will take effect on March 1, resulting in the loss of more than 36,000 Wisconsin jobs and reduced resources for critical services such as education, small business loans, Meals on Wheels and Head Start.
“The sequester’s across-the-board spending cuts represent a budget tornado,” said Congressman Mark Pocan.. “The cuts would bring severely harmful effects to our communities here in Wisconsin, slowing our economic growth, reducing key services and resulting in the loss of more than 36,000 Wisconsin jobs. This is irresponsible and unacceptable. Congress must come together on a balanced, common sense plan that responsibly reduces our deficit while maintaining investments that drive economic and job growth.”
“The best way for Congress to avoid this unnecessary and self inflicted crisis is to find the political courage to ask the wealthy and large special interests to pay their fair share,” said Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. ”This human-made crisis literally pits corporate tax loopholes against children, seniors and our most vulnerable citizens. It is time for Congress to put the opportunity, security, and freedom of most Americans over the demands of wealthy special interests feeding at the public trough.”
“If this sequester is allowed to take effect, close to 373,000 seriously mentally ill adults and seriously emotionally disturbed children could end up being untreated nationally,” said Janie Harris, a Madison nurse. “This population is one of the least able to handle this level of abandonment.”
"The sequestration will increase hardships for vulnerable people and families in our community, especially for families with young children,” said Colleen Alvey, a licensed social worker. “As the resources available to families shrink, 600,000 women and children would be dropped from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. We cannot put these vulnerable populations at risk because of politics and partisanship.”
In anticipation of Governor Walker’s budget address this evening, when he will formally announce his plan to turn down billions in health care reform dollars earmarked for Wisconsin, Citizen Action of Wisconsin Executive Director Robert Kraig made the following statement:
“Scott Walker’s decision to turn down billions in federal Medicaid dollars to strengthen BadgerCare is not only bad public policy it is profoundly immoral. Walker is putting political calculations ahead of the health security of Wisconsin citizens. Rather than level with the people of Wisconsin about the true implications of his dangerous decision, Walker has concocted an elaborate smokescreen designed to confuse and mislead the public. Once the smoke clears, the simple fact will remain that Walker’s scheme will result in tens of thousands fewer people gaining access to health security at more than 5 times the cost to the state. It may be a good political deal for Walker to posture as an opponent of health care reform, while confusing the public about the true consequences of his actions, but it is a shockingly irresponsible act for someone who is sworn to uphold and protect the best interest of the people of Wisconsin.”
"What the Governor is proposing is not a middle of the road approach as he has suggested," said State Senator Dave Hansen. "It is an extreme plan that puts him to the right of Tea Party Governors like Arizona Governor Jan Brewer who chose to accept the federal help. His ‘go it alone’ decision will cost taxpayers more than under the federal plan, fewer people will receive health care and we will lose out on over 10,000 new jobs."
The Governor’s recent refusal to accept $12 billion in Medicaid funds over 10 years for BadgerCare will have a devastating impact on Wisconsin. While details about the Governor’s actions are only slowly becoming public, it is already clear that by rejecting the federal funds for BadgerCare, Governor Walker is forcing 88,000 Wisconsinites off BadgerCare, and will end up costing Wisconsin taxpayers over $294 million more.
“This decision is not set in stone, there still is time for Wisconsin to accept this federal revenue and legislation has already been proposed,” said Kevin Kane, Healthcare Organizer at Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “Charging Wisconsinites more to cover less people under BadgerCare in Walker’s plan is not a ‘middle path’, it’s a cruel trick. Health reform is the law of the land, the Governor must stop trying to gain political points at the expense of peoples’ lives.”
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Wisconsin could add 211,000 citizens to the BadgerCare rolls by accepting federal Medicaid funds. The expansion also would save the state an estimated $495 million over the next 10 years, as well as create an estimated 10,500 healthcare jobs in Wisconsin.
“I previously had access to BadgerCare, but after covering a broken leg I found myself placed back on the waiting list,“ said Nevin Graves, a local resident of Green Bay. “Unable to get coverage, I could have lost a leg after an infection went untreated. I went from being able to work to being denied the ability to get proper care to adequately return to work. The Governor must accept this money so people can get the care they need.”
For more information about the effects of strengthening BadgerCare by expanding Medicaid, visit: Citizen Action of Wisconsin
The report, released jointly by Citizen Action of Wisconsin and the national consumer advocacy organization Families USA, spotlights a wide range of health care and economic benefits that Wisconsin would experience by participating in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.
The report is based on the general guidelines for Medicaid expansion under the reform law: While the federal government now pays 60 percent of the cost of the current Medicaid program, it will pay all the costs of expanded coverage the first three years of the program—2014 to 2016—and its share will then only decrease to 90 percent by 2020.
The Medicaid “expansion,” as it is termed, is actually a national standardization of eligibility, raising the qualifying income level to 138 percent of the federal poverty level and making single individuals or couples without children eligible for Medicaid in states where they did not otherwise qualify.
With Wisconsin dealing with an unemployment rate of 6.6 percent in December, a gain of 10,552 new jobs in 2016 is just one of many benefits to the state. The Medicaid expansion would also:
Increase economic activity. The increased federal funding and jobs created are projected to increase economic activity in Wisconsin by $1.3 billion in 2016
•Reduce state spending on state-funded health care programs for the uninsured. Currently, states and localities pay for about 30 percent of the cost of uncompensated care. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that Wisconsin could save $247 million dollars in uncompensated care costs from 2013 to 2022.
Strengthen the state’s health care system. The Wisconsin Hospital Association says that the state’s hospitals absorbed $580 million in costs for providing charity care to the uninsured. Increasing the number of residents receiving Medicaid would reduce those costs, strengthening the health care system for everyone in the state.
Reduce costs from uncompensated care that are passed on to consumers and businesses. Some of the costs of uncompensated care are also passed along to insurance companies, which in turn raise premiums for businesses and families. In 2008, Families USA calculated that uncompensated care increased family health insurance premiums by an estimated $1,017. By reducing the number of Wisconsinites without insurance, those costs shifts can be reduced.
Increase state revenue. Although tax structures vary from state to state, increasing jobs and business activity generally means more sales tax revenue for states or localities, and more jobs and better-paying jobs also contribute to state income. This increase could help offset the state’s own cost for a Medicaid expansion.
Help Wisconsinites become healthier and more productive. Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites will now have access to affordable health coverage, an essential step to healthier lives and a gain for Wisconsin.
“The Medicaid expansion is a win-win-win proposition for the people of Wisconsin,” Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, said today. “It would reduce the number of people who can’t afford health care; it will increase the number of jobs throughout the state; and it will strengthen the state’s economy.”
"It is hard to believe that any responsible leader would turn down the federal Medicaid money to fill the holes in BadgerCare," said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. "In addition to giving hundreds of thousands of low income Wisconsinites the freedom to control their own health care decisions and to get ahead economically, accepting the new federal Medicaid money will also create jobs in the health care industry."
The report used 2016 as a model, its authors say, because, although Medicaid expansion funds will be available to states in 2014, it is expected to take time for enrollment to reach the level where the program’s full economic benefit is revealed.
The full report, “Wisconsin’s Economy Will Benefit from Expanding Medicaid,” is available at http://familiesusa2.org/assets/pdfs/medicaid-expansion/Wisconsin.pdf
Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, made the following statement in response to these media reports:
“We know of no credible middle path that would result in guaranteeing coverage to low income Wisconsinites who currently fall between the cracks in the BadgerCare program. As far as we know, taking the new health care reform money for BadgerCare really is an all or nothing proposition, and has been treated as such by all credible health care experts across the country and the six conservative Governors who have already accepted the money. Based on the fragmentary media reports we have seen, we are very concerned that spokespersons for the Governor are trying to pre-spin a decision that would that would have devastating consequences for the healthcare freedom and security of over 100,000 Wisconsinites. We profoundly hope that these press reports turn out to be inaccurate. If Governor Walker turns down billions in federal money for BadgerCare, there is no doubt that many Wisconsinites will die as a consequence.”
