Now that President Barack Obama has won re-election, Wisconsin is on the clock.
Gov. Scott Walker’s administration faces a major deadline for implementing core element of Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The statutory deadline for submitting Wisconsin’s blueprint for a new health insurance exchange is Nov. 16.
Walker took the public position after the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the law that Wisconsin would not do any planning or take any action until after the Nov. 6 election. Several other states had begun planning for their exchanges months ago.
Amid suspicions that the Walker administration may be secretly working on a blueprint for a Wisconsin health insurance exchange, without seeking any input from health care advocates and other stakeholders, Citizen Action of Wisconsin filed multiple open records requests in September.
Citizen Action said today it has obtained internal Walker administration emails that shed light on the critical decision.
The liberal activist group said it obtained emails that suggest that Walker administration officials believe they can meet the federal deadline, but they have not decided whether or not to proceed.
In one email, Department of Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith asked J.P. Wieske, the legislative liaison and public information officer for the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance: “Are you all prepared to say that based on the outcome of Nov 6, we will meet the Nov. 16 date? Thanks Dennis.” The email was copied to both Insurance Commissioner Ted Nickel and Deputy Commissioner Dan Schwartzer. Wieske responded, “We think we can be ready to file by Nov 16th, if there is interest in moving forward.”
The decision will determine whether Wisconsin builds its own state health insurance exchange or whether the federal government does it for the state.
“Now that the election is over and the Affordable Care Act will be implemented, it is time for the Walker Administration to stop playing political games with the health of Wisconsin’s citizens,” said Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “The new health insurance exchanges, along with the expansion of Medicaid (BadgerCare), will guarantee for the first time that everyone can control their own health care decisions and will have the peace of mind of knowing that there is a place to go, no matter what, to get quality affordable coverage.”
