The Sconi

Wisconsin state Sen. Chris Larson fumes he wants to see more lawmakers get smart when it comes to improving the state’s healthcare system.

“It still boggles my mind that Wisconsin could cover 126,000 more people under BadgerCare while increasing state revenue by $1.3 billion and legislative Republicans are like "Nah" year after year,” Larson recently posted on Twitter. “When people can't afford health insurance, we all pay for it. Cruelty is expensive.”

Larson has plenty of supporters when it comes to his belief that the state desperately needs to do more to expand the program, with most state residents also openly expressing their support for wanting to see it broadened. And while Wisconsin Watch reports the Wisconsin Department of Health Services estimates that the number of newly added people that would benefit from the program being expended would be closer to 90,000, officials add the 2023-25 biennial budget projects that the expansion would enroll about 61,100 parents and 28,600 adults without children.

Since taking office in 2019, Gov. Tony Evers has steadfastly pushed for expansion under the federal Affordable Care Act, highlighting how the state is one of only 11 that has not expanded Medicaid coverage to a federally allowable 138% of the poverty level.

According to Wisconsin Examiner, a recent poll commissioned by the American Cancer Society found that 70% of Wisconsin voters support expanding BadgerCare.