Community members met with Dane County legislators Thursday to discuss the future of health care in the state of Wisconsin.
Legislators primarily focused on the future of Medicaid and access to abortion.
If a Democratic governor were to get elected at the end of 2018, State Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, said she would want to allow people — no matter their income — to be able to buy into Medicaid or get an affordable Medicaid plan if they are left without health care.
Subeck added Democrats would ensure residents had high quality health care.
“We see Republicans wanting to shrink eligibility, but we don’t want to just fight that shrinking eligibility,” Subeck said. “We actually want to expand it. We want everyone to have that opportunity.”
University of Wisconsin medical student Matt Guerrieri said taking away health care would affect everyone in the state, especially people of color and immigrants.
State Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, echoed the sentiment that health care affects everyone — regardless of their political affiliation.
“There isn’t anyone, Republican or Democrat, that hasn’t been touched by some sort of health issue,” Berceau said.
Provisions to BadgerCare cause concern for individuals with substance abuse, low-income
Guerrieri also brought up the issue of proposed legislation that would prohibit UW or UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority from performing abortions and administrating abortion training.
State Rep. Jimmy Anderson, D-Fitchburg, said prohibiting abortion training isn’t just a political issue, but that it’s “playing with people’s lives.”
In the same vein, Subeck said the end result of prohibiting abortion training would be that woman and families suffer.
In addition to voicing concerns during the town hall, Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, encouraged all constituents to reach out by email to their representatives.
“When people reach out to us, we do collect that data, and it does help us figure out what we need to be the loudest on and the most passionate about,” Sargent said.
Berceau said the town hall is important because many policies surrounding health care are fluctuating
Similarly, state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison said legislators want to hear from the community.
“We’re here for two reasons: We want to hear from you and we want to respond to you,” Risser said.
