Wisconsin’s Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Struggle to Differentiate on Health Care

Hospital waiting area. (Public Domain)

In the crowded Democratic field for Wisconsin governor, the candidates have so far had few opportunities to try to stand out while all together.

One of those opportunities came Wednesday, when they met at a forum in Madison to discuss health care policy.

And while they share many of the same policy goals — expanding Medicaid, developing a public health insurance option and increasing rural access to health care — the seven contenders at the forum differed on approach.

Over the next four months before the August primary, they’ll need to find ways to stand out, as polling indicates that voters still don’t have a strong idea of who these candidates are.

When it comes to establishing a public health insurance option — a government-operated plan that would compete with private plans in the marketplace — Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said Wisconsin could turn to Colorado for a model. There, a public-private partnership requires insurers to reduce premiums over time.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said the existing BadgerCare system — Wisconsin’s version of Medicaid — could be transformed into a public option.

“I don’t think that we need to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “We already have the BadgerCare infrastructure that is already in place.”

Others pushed specific ideas for lowering health care costs. State Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, called for a cap on hospital profits, with the leftover funds being reinvested in rural health care. Missy Hughes, who led the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, said private equity firms should be restricted from buying hospitals and clinics.

“The solution of not allowing private equity to come in and be behind the scenes is really about bringing transparency to the system,” she said. ”We can step in if there is a crisis with a hospital, we can make sure that we’re working with the owners of that hospital, with the managers of that hospital right there, and not with an entity that’s located … 10 states away.”

Across the board, the candidates also pushed back on health policy out of Washington, especially changes implemented under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., under the mantle of “Make America Healthy Again.”

Hong called Kennedy’s approach “a joke and a distraction.” Former U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes called Kennedy a “lunatic.”

Joel Brennan, who used to lead the Department of Administration, said that voters drawn to MAHA priorities share common goals.

“There are widespread agreements that we can have around ultra-processed foods and what we can do about that, increasingly having healthier lifestyles — like, those are not things that should be partisan, except under this administration, under this head of HHS at the federal level, they are made partisan,” he said. “But what is dangerous is where we start to see vaccines and scientifically proven things being undermined at the federal level.”

And while they shared a general resistance to federal changes coming out of the administration of President Donald Trump, they also sought to demonstrate that they could accomplish things in spite of changes from Washington.

For example, Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, argued that the Trump administration has made Medicaid expansion near impossible. She said people should instead have the option of buying into the health care plan that lawmakers like her enjoy.

“We have to do what is within our power, to stop rationing health care based on your employment or your wealth,” she said. “States need to not rely solely on the federal government for things like public health information, for immunization and certainly for coverage.”

Listen to the WPR report

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor contenders call for Medicaid expansion, public option was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.