The presidential campaigns are in full swing and Trump and Harris are prioritizing campaigning throughout Wisconsin, a key swing state.
On Friday, the Harris/Walz campaign sponsored a roundtable discussion featuring local doctors.
They highlighted Harris’ work to lower drug prices and her support for the Affordable Care Act.
Dr. Kay Gruling is a family physician based in Wausau. She spoke about the Affordable Care Act and the Inflation Reduction Act making healthcare and drug costs more affordable.
“Patients enter nursing homes due to long term complications which could have been avoided, or at least lessened, if they had been able to afford their medications. And what is Trump's plan to help seniors pay for health care? Well, he has promised to repeal that law too.” said Dr. Gruling.
Gruling said it's clear that Vice President Harris is fighting for patients, whereas, she says, Trump is fighting for “Big Pharma.”
In reaction, Kevin Hermening, Chair of the Republican Party of Marathon County, said the speakers ignored the “very real acts put forward by President Trump.”
“Most people I know think that the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable. The fact is that it is not great public policy because it eliminated competition,” he said.
Dr. Brian Ewart is a kidney physician practicing in central Wisconsin.
He highlighted the Inflation Reduction Act’s role in lowering prices for expensive key medicines.
“Dapagliflozin and Empagliflozin are on the list of 10 medicines that are now negotiated, all courtesy of Vice President Harris casting the deciding vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, for which no Republican voted for, and for which the former President Trump has stated he will repeal,” said Dr. Ewart.
Dr. Ewart pointed out that hospitals in Merrill, Tomahawk, Eagle River, and other rural locations are critical access hospitals, meaning that they rely on reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid to keep functioning.
“So when you've gut Medicaid, you close rural hospitals. So this is where protecting Medicare and protecting Medicaid is crucial to the health of the people in Wisconsin,” said Dr. Ewart.
Kevin Hermening, Chair of the Republican Party of Marathon County disagrees, saying that medical facilities that rely on Medicaid reimbursements are the ones failing because they’re not being paid enough for their services.
Hermening said that steps Trump took to lower insulin costs, for example, are overlooked.
Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez attacked Trump policies as being harmful to rural healthcare.
Rodriguez said that before Roe v. Wade was overturned, Wisconsin already struggled with a shortage of OB/GYNs, but now, it’s even worse.
“I had spoken to several folks who had been planning on practicing in Wisconsin. They were students finishing up their internship, and they had decided to work elsewhere, outside of the state, because of the Draconian restrictions that we have and Trump/Vance campaign, if you look at their policies within Project 2025 they're looking to implement a abortion ban all across the US, which would affect Wisconsin as well,” said Rodriguez.
It should be noted that Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025 and tried to soften his image on reproductive rights.
Hermening said that overturning Roe v. Wade put the decision back into the State’s hands, which is "what so many people have been advocating for for decades."
Trump will have his say on the issues when he’s back in the state this Saturday for a rally in Mosinee.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
