Walker Medicaid decision passes cost onto Employers, up to $36 million. Still open for Business?

This idea of “sticking to your principles” no matter what happens in the real world is starting to play out in the most costly way in Wisconsin.

Scott Walker has turned down billions of federal dollars, money we sent to Washington and wouldn't mind getting back. Blame blind ideology.

The wheels are starting to come off even before the legislature gets its hands on Walker’s strange and costly proposals.

Walker’s decision to dump as many low income families into the health care exchanges is another one of those really dumb moves that’ll cost a whole lot of money for families businesses that didn't have to be.

jsonline: A national study by Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. estimates that Walker's decision could leave Wisconsin employers with federal penalties of between $24.1 million and $36.1 million a year.

Putting these additional people into the exchanges, instead of covering them in BadgerCare, means they might face additional costs, in the form of premiums, deductibles or other costs. And if they have a job, their employers might have to pay more as well.

Employers with the equivalent of 50 or more full-time workers would pay a tax of between $2,000 and $3,000 per employee for anyone who receives a taxpayer subsidy to be covered under the federal health exchange. In Wisconsin, that would work out to just over 12,000 people, Jackson Hewitt estimated. "Any projections of the 'net' costs of Medicaid expansions should reflect the very real costs of such liabilities to employers," the report from the firm said.

The purely ideological response by Walker? Remember, he’s teaching us dumb adults a lesson:

Walker spokeswoman Jocelyn Webster said that Walker's proposal would reduce the number of uninsured in the state by about half and help reduce costs within the health care system associated with those uninsured. "Governor Walker is focused on moving people from government dependence into the independence of making their own health care decisions. 

As a parent who's  worried constantly about my sons safety and health, I really need another thing to decide? Been there, done that. It's time to give us our time back from the endless hours of picking an insurer year after year.