Fast-Tracked Bills Will Undermine Health and Wellbeing of Communities Throughout State
MADISON – Statement from Sara Finger, Executive Director and Founder of the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health (WAWH)
“Under the guise of creating a stronger workforce, proposed legislation from the GOP majority in our state legislature threatens to weaken the workforce by denying access to medical care to thousands of working Wisconsinites throughout the state.”
“Two bills (AB 934 & AB 936) were only introduced at the end of January and have been fast-tracked in the waning days of the current legislative session. Both legislative proposals will increase red tape and penalize people by taking away their health care coverage for not working more.”
“AB 934 would require people in BadgerCare to reapply every six months, doubling the amount of paperwork needed to keep their health care coverage. It also requires applicants to start from scratch every time, refilling the same information into blank forms. Any errors could mean no health care for six months.”
“AB 936 would punish current BadgerCare enrollees such as low-wage workers who will lose more than they gain from the additional hours, a broad range of family caregivers who are unable to increase their hours due to caregiving responsibilities (especially when finding paid care is so difficult), and people with disabilities but who lack any official determination yet.”
“If the leaders in our State Legislature actually wanted to strengthen Wisconsin’s workforce, they would stop playing political games with people’s health and lives and prioritize their time and energy on policies such as paid family medical leave, expanding BadgerCare, and making quality childcare more affordable.”
