Every Republican in the Wisconsin congressional district of the U.S. House struck down a Democrat-proposed budget bill on Friday that would have reversed the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid for Wisconsin residents, according to WisPolitics.
Minority leader of the U.S. Senate Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the budget bill Sept. 17 explaining that the bill would reverse healthcare cuts and permanently extend the premium Affordable Care Act tax credits, according to Senate Democrats.
Currently, the ACA provides health insurance for 313,579 Wisconsinites, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The ACA tax credits currently help eligible individuals and families cover the premiums for their healthcare. If the tax credit is not continued, there will be an average 75% increase in healthcare premiums for all Americans, including a 90% increase in many rural areas, according to KFF.
UW College Democrats Chair Ty Schanhofer talked on how the democrat proposed bill would have impacted healthcare for Wisconsin families.
“I don’t think any of us want to live in a country where our neighbors and people in our community are struggling just to get the bare minimum healthcare,” Schanhofer said. “I think that a successful government provides these essential services to people.”
Schanhofer also discussed the impact the countervote will have on college students in Wisconsin but said he believes that Wisconsin Democrats are looking out for students.
Trump’s original cut to Medicaid amounted to $1 trillion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed this summer, according to the Center for Medicare Advocacy. As a result of this, three rural hospitals in Wisconsin are at risk of closure, according to the U.S. Senate, and 54,000 Wisconsinites have the potential to lose their health insurance, according to WisPolitics.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin released a statement criticizing the choices of Wisconsin Republicans voting against the new budget bill saying that Wisconsin families are already struggling. He urged Republicans to stand up for Wisconsinites, according to WisPolitics.
“Republicans and Democrats need to work together in government — it’s not one side that should dictate,” Schanhofer said. “Nobody wants their healthcare stripped away from them.”
