Walker supporters okay spending $200 Million $315 Million more not expanding Medicaid. Fiscal Dodos.

 I'm finally getting to this story, but I felt a few issues, many political, were ignored.

Saving taxpayer money has never been the real reason why Scott Walker or his band of Republican pirates have screwed around with Medicaid expansion and ObamaCare. They have their ideological principles. We're seeing that now with predicted deficits for BadgerCare. Remember, hospitals we're reimbursed $73 million for treating the uninsured with taxpayer dollars, money that would have come our way by expanding Medicaid. Add that amount to the following:

jsonline: According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau Wisconsin, taxpayers would have saved $206 million over two years, 73% more than previously estimated, if officials had fully expanded its main health care program for the poor under the federal 

If Gov. Mary Burke expanded BadgerCare:

State taxpayers would save another $261 million to $315 million through June 2017. In all, the state could have saved more than $500 million over 31/2 years. 

And for "fiscal conservatives," get angry. We missed out on more money for you and me:

That would have allowed Gov. Scott Walker and legislators to put more money toward schools or roads or cut taxes more deeply than they did over the last year. The full expansion would have served an estimated 87,000 more adults each month under BadgerCare Plus. The program provides better coverage for people with low incomes — and at a lower cost — than the subsidized health plans sold on the federal marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act.

Those still in poverty just above the 100% mark won't be able to afford co-pays and deductibles. But Republicans have chosen a more ideological path to take. 

Normally, BadgerCare costs are shared, with the federal government paying about 60% and the state paying about 40%.

That percentage fluctuates slightly due to the current economic numbers nationally and per state. It's not reneging. It's a calculation. If Wisconsin goes from 90% to 89%, do we panic? Of course not.

The unspoken issue is this; Republicans will renege on Medicare if they take control of congress and the presidency. They will block grant it, with no strings attached, allowing states to shed almost everybody from coverage. That would include a number of hoops to jump through, like an attempt to perform of a drug testing.

Mary Burke wasn't timid in her response:

"In the business world, CEOs get fired for decisions like that," her statement said. "As governor, I'm going to put common sense before politics. Governor Walker's politics-first approach has left Wisconsin taxpayers paying the price."

Will ideology trump wasting millions and spending more of our hard earned taxpayer money? And will Scott Walker admit to the Republican Party's plans to kill Medicaid? Yes.

But in comments to reporters Friday in Platteville, Walker said he was undeterred by the report and sticking by his BadgerCare plan. He said he didn't believe the federal government would provide the funding it has promised. "We haven't exposed our taxpayers to something I think eventually is going to happen ... We believe confidently going forward this federal government is likely to renege from its promises on Medicaid to the states. And we won't be exposed to that."