Wednesday, the group Citizen Action of Wisconsin released a report saying Minnesota residents are paying far less in premiums under the Affordable Care Act. Rhinelander and Wausau are two cities the report compared to Minnesota communities.
Citizen Action's Robert Kraig told the media during a conference call his group could find two reasons why the higher rates are being offered....
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"....one was rejected the federal Medicaid money, the enhanced money to expand BadgerCare in Wisconsin. The state's took very different approaches. In Minnesota they kept their current eligibility levels, which are as high as Wisconsin's are now, so they didn't force anyone off their Medicaid program into the exchanges and they took the expansion money...."
Governor Walker rejected the federal money offered for Medicaid. 30 county boards have expressed concern to Walker about that act, saying it could greatly increase costs on local property taxpayers to pay for people needing care.
Kraig says the second reason for the disparity with Minnesota was Wisconsin's relatively passive approach to insurance rate review.
The report indicated Rhinelander residents would pay about $350 dollars per month depending on plan and variables. A comparable community in Minnesota will be paying about a hundred dollars less per month. In Wausau, it was about $5 dollars higher per month in both catagories.
The full report can be found on the Citizen Action of Wisconsin website.
