Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, one of the nation’s most militantly anti-Obamacare governors, is making strengthening the health care law a key plank of his reelection platform as Republicans fret over potential losses in November.

Walker wants to prop up his Obamacare market with a $200 million program that would compensate health insurers for high-cost patients so they don’t hike premiums for everyone. He also would enshrine some Obamacare protections for people with pre-existing conditions.


It’s a startling turnabout for a chief executive who has repeatedly called for repealing and replacing the health law. But it could prove smart politics in a swing state where a Democrat recently flipped a seat in a state Senate district that Donald Trump carried by 17 points — a result Walker called a “wake-up call” for state Republicans.

Walker sought to get out in front of a potential issue by blaming Washington — and, of course, Obamacare — for individual coverage premiums that rose an average of 36 percent this year.

"Wisconsin families need stability, especially when it comes to their health care," Walker said in his weekly radio address on Thursday. "Since Washington has failed to act on the issue, Wisconsin must lead."

He and state GOP lawmakers contend their only option is to use a provision of the law to insulate insurers from the expense of high-cost patients — and that way, protect constituents from another round of potentially brutal health care premium increases next year.

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The irony is the approach — known as reinsurance — will likely help preserve Obamacare markets in Wisconsin even as the Trump administration continues to take executive actions to undermine the law.

“Even though I may not agree with the Affordable Care Act … until someone decides what to do in D.C., by doing this reinsurance we are actually protecting the taxpayers who would have to keep paying for these increasing premiums,” said Republican state Rep. Kevin Petersen, who co-authored a reinsurance bill the legislature cleared and that Walker is expected to sign.

The federal government would contribute 75 percent of the funding for Wisconsin's reinsurance program with the state covering the rest.

Other governors have also embraced reinsurance funds, including Alaska Republican-turned-independent Bill Walker, and Democrats Mark Dayton of Minnesota and Kate Brown of Oregon. Republican governors in Iowa and Oklahoma withdrew applications to the Trump administration for similar plans — in Iowa’s case, after Trump asked HHS to deny the request, according to a Washington Post story, and in Oklahoma’s, after the administration failed to act in a timely manner.

Walker’s plan, which he has touted on campaign-like stops at half a dozen hospitals across the state over the past month, infuriates Democrats who blame the two-term governor and Trump for undermining Obamacare markets and driving up premiums with their calls to scrap the law.

“He has the audacity to say he’s going to clean up Washington’s mess? Well no, this is his mess,” said Democratic state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who voted against creating the program.

Critics say Walker — who recent polls show has a roughly equal approval and disapproval rating — is pushing the plan to position himself as more moderate in a swing state and save face after the GOP’s anti-Obamacare agenda flopped with voters.

“There’s no policy angle here, period,” said one Wisconsin Democratic operative. “Health care is a huge issue for voters right now.”

No clear challenger to Walker has emerged in a crowded Democratic gubernatorial field featuring more than a dozen candidates ahead of an Aug. 14 primary. Walker amassed $3.7 million in campaign funds during the second half of 2017 and had $4.2 million in cash, significantly outpacing any of the hopefuls.

Once Walker signs the reinsurance bill, his administration will have to formally submit the proposal to the Trump administration for approval before the next Obamacare enrollment period starts in the fall. Obamacare gave states flexibility to develop their own health care plans beginning in 2017 as long as they meet certain criteria, including covering the same number of people and not adding to the federal deficit.

The reinsurance proposal isn’t the first time Walker has used the health law to put his stamp on the state's health system. He used the law to shift thousands of residents from the state’s Medicaid program to its Obamacare exchange, where they get heavily subsidized private insurance.

Wisconsin, where roughly 225,000 people enrolled in health care plans through HealthCare.gov during the law’s most recent open enrollment period, will cover roughly $50 million of the reinsurance program’s cost while the federal government would pay an estimated $150 million. State officials say the program would lower premiums in the individual market by 13 percent next year and by 12 percent in 2020.

Wisconsin's market remains competitive, with 11 insurers offering individual market plans this year, in contrast to states with only a single Obamacare insurer, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

But state residents still suffered after several insurance companies headed for the exits over the last two years, with average premiums for individual coverage rising 36 percent this year.

"Now is the time we have to [respond],” said Petersen, the state legislator.

That spike was partly due to insurers' uncertainty over whether the White House would continue crucial Obamacare payments that helped them cover low-income customers' out-of-pocket expenses. Trump in October decided to scrap the funds.

