5-6-19 thiesfeldt not swayed by public opinion polls on medicaid expansion

Fond du Lac Republican state representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt says he is not swayed by public opinion polls showing overwhelming public support for accepting federal funding for Medicaid expansion.   The latest Marquette Law School poll shows 70 percent of state residents say the state should accept federal funds to expand Medicaid coverage, while only 23 percent are opposed.  Representative Thiesfeldt says it may be how the question is asked.  “If you phrase that question differently than that, the fact that a lot of people are going to lose their private insurance and be forced to go onto government insurance.   You’re trusting the federal government is going to keep its promise to continue funding at least a 90 percent level, this Medicaid expansion.  Then I think people are going to be a little more reluctant, in fact maybe a lot more reluctant to go along with that sort of increase,”  Thiesfeldt told WFDL news.  Republicans plan to remove Evers’ Medicaid expansion proposal from the budget in their first vote this week.  Rep. Chris Taylor, a Democrat on the budget committee, said refusing to accept the federal dollars will blow a massive hole in the budget because the spending plan is  built on receiving that money.  “It’s the centerpiece of the budget,” Taylor said.