Journal Sentinel

By: Guy Boulton

Lost in the ongoing debate over whether Wisconsin should expand eligibility for Medicaid — and accept roughly $184.9 million a year in federal dollars for doing so — is one small detail:

Former Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature already expanded the Medicaid program.

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Finally, there’s the debate over the underlying premise of the study — whether health systems can shift costs to private health plans. For one thing, it implies that health systems have the leverage and market power to set prices higher.

“They are going to raise prices to the extent that they can anyway,” said Andy Schneider, a research professor at the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University. “If they have market leverage, they are going to raise prices.”

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