U.S. Supreme Court Decision On Affordable Care Act Could Mean More For Wisconsin

A group which supports the Affordable Care Act says Wisconsin has more at stake than most states if federal subsidies go away.

Among the 34 states that rely on the federal exchange, Wisconsin has the eighth-highest subsidy for health coverage bought on www.healthcare.gov.

And a lot of people in the state — 91 percent — get federal help paying for that coverage.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether states that don’t have their own health care exchanges are still eligible for federal subsidies.

Jon Peacock, with the Wisconsin Council on Children & Families, said Gov. Scott Walker’s decision to shift 63,000 people from BadgerCare to private insurance means the state is relying more on the marketplace.

“That decision could come back and haunt us if the Supreme Court strikes down subsidies for people who are participating in the federal marketplace,” Peacock said.

More than 183,000 people in Wisconsin get coverage through a marketplace insurance plan.