Pocan Corrects the Record on Van Orden’s Billion-Dollar Claims

MADISON, WI – Today, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02) released the following statement fact-checking Rep. Derrick Van Orden (WI-03) after a weekend of nonsense tweets, eight in total, claiming credit for earmarking Wisconsin’s hospitals $1 billion.

“It’s rich that Rep. Van Orden is claiming credit for $1 billion coming to Wisconsin hospitals. I didn’t realize he was serving in the State Legislature and Congress simultaneously. It was a bipartisan majority in the State Assembly and the State Senate, as well as Governor Evers, that helped Wisconsin secure $1 billion by finally expanding the provider tax rate from one of the lowest in the country to the highest level possible. The State Legislature voted to expand Medicaid’s reimbursements to the states before Derrick, Congressional Republicans, and Trump could force through their devastating reconciliation bill that will cut $1 trillion from healthcare nationwide and could shutter rural hospitals across the state.”

“I applaud both Governor Evers and the State Legislature for working together to get this done and help our rural hospitals.”

“It’s clear that Derrick doesn’t understand the bill or legislative procedure when he claimed that he also helped secure an additional $500 million for rural hospitals. This provision came from a Senate amendment he had nothing to do with and was only included because Republicans felt pressure to put a band-aid over the bullet wound they are inflicting on rural hospitals by this bill. Moreover, there is no guarantee that Wisconsin will receive any or all of these funds, as award amounts have yet to be determined.”

“You can’t create a problem and then claim credit for someone else’s help in making it slightly less horrific. He and his Republican colleagues are the reason this legislative fix was so necessary in the first place. The legislature’s actions will help lessen some of the impact, but certainly not all of the bill.”

Background:

Medicaid provider taxes are state-imposed taxes on healthcare providers, like hospitals. Wisconsin utilizes provider taxes to help fund its Medicaid program. The federal government matches that provider tax rate, which again helps fund the state Medicaid program.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) freezes certain provider tax rates, singling out Wisconsin and a few other states that had very low rates compared to the rest of the country. In response, the state rushed to increase that tax rate to ensure that they could be grandfathered into the reconciliation bill at the maximum level, thus enabling the state to receive approximately $1 billion in additional federal funding.

Even with this fix, this legislation is still estimated to cause over 275,000 Wisconsinites to lose their healthcare.

Additional Van Orden Tweets Claiming Credit:

https://x.com/derrickvanorden/status/1941957537009422511

https://x.com/derrickvanorden/status/1941326721715933213

https://x.com/derrickvanorden/status/1941266668480827601

https://x.com/derrickvanorden/status/1941227940659986448

https://x.com/derrickvanorden/status/1941223942137708617

https://x.com/derrickvanorden/status/1941116891835351528

https://x.com/derrickvanorden/status/1941154176089948610

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.