Staunch opposition to the Affordable Care Act has led Wisconsin legislatures to pass up $360 million in federal funding provided under the health law, according to the Journal Sentinel.
In total, Wisconsin has rejected upwards of $550 million in federal money available under the ACA. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, previously, the state rejected about $200 million in federal money available starting January 2014, the report said.
The $360 million Wisconsin's new budget passed over far exceeds the more than $250 million in cuts the same budget made to Madison-based University Of Wisconsin System.
Wisconsin has held fast to Governor Scott Walker's (R) approach to the ACA. According to the Journal Sentinel, he is the only governor who has used the law to provide increased access to healthcare to state residents while rejecting the federal money available to finance it. While most Republican governors have chosen not to expand Medicaid, Gov. Walker did expand Medicaid, though at a higher cost to taxpayers.
The Urban Institute estimates that accepting federal dollars offered under the ACA would save Wisconsin $2.5 billion in state spending from 2015 to 2024, according to the report.
However, the Walker administration argues the federal government's budget deficits will eventually reduce the amount of money available to states through the health law.
"If anyone thinks the federal government, which is currently $18 trillion in debt and cannot meet its current Medicaid obligations, will not renege on its future funding promises, they are not living in reality," Walker's press secretary Laurel Patrick said in an email, according to the report.