Despite the economic reality that corporate giveaways hurt the state, and widen the income gap, Scott Walker has also decided to cost businesses here up to $37 million in penalties for not expanding Medicaid from 100% to only 138%.
Petty to the point it now hurts business, Walker has offered no excuses. Not only are taxpayers forking over cash to area hospitals for treating those not covered by ObamaCare and Badgercare, but businesses are on the hook for a Walker created penalty. Don't even bring up rejecting our federal tax dollars.
Madison.com: Gov. Scott Walker's decision not to expand the state's Medicaid coverage could cost large Wisconsin employers about $37 million in tax penalties, according to a national analysis released Wednesday. Starting next year, employers with at least 50 full-time workers will face a tax penalty if their workers get subsidized coverage through the federal online exchanges. But companies won't face a penalty if those workers get subsidized coverage through Medicaid instead.
A report by Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. estimated that of 31,000 uninsured Wisconsin adults working full-time who are between 100 percent and 138 percent of the federal poverty level, about 12,000 work for large employers who'll be hit by the tax penalty. That works out to a penalty of about $2,000 to $3,000 per affected worker, for a total cost in Wisconsin of $25 million to $37 million, said Brian Haile, a vice president at Jackson Hewitt who conducted the analysis. "The only way for the state to remove that liability is to extend Medicaid eligibility to 138 percent," he said.
The governor didn't seem to care. This tells me they've got a messaging problem. Walker’s opponent, Mary Burke,
would be a fool not to beat this into the ground:
J.P. Wieske, a spokesman for the insurance commissioner's office, questioned the validity of the numbers in the report … "It's assumption after assumption off of national numbers. It's not a Wisconsin-based number."Mary Burke even has Tammy Baldwin as a backup :
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, spokesman, John Kraus, said the latest report shows that Wisconsin is paying a price for Walker's decisions. "This report makes clear that the path Governor Walker has taken will increase costs for Wisconsin businesses at a time when we need them investing in economic growth and creating jobs for people looking for work in our struggling economy," he said in an email.
So you are arguing that the state and federal governments need to spend money so that companies can continue to pay people so poorly that they qualify for Medicaid and not pay a penalty for such low wages?
ReplyDeleteSometimes you have to explain these things;
ReplyDeleteNo. Medicare should be expanded, along with an increase in the federal minimum wage. Easy?
Higher wages, which increases consumer demand, thus creating jobs is a much better plan. Ya think? Those still not making enough are covered.