Pasch Calls Walker's Decision to Return $38 Million for Health Care Law 'Radical'

State Rep. Sandy Pasch called Gov. Scott Walker’s decision to turn away $38 million in federal dollars earmarked to implement the national health care reform law radical, and said he is playing politics with resident's health, in a statement Wednesday.

“This brazen attempt to score short-sighted political points with extreme partisan interests by playing chicken with federal law will take Wisconsin’s healthcare decisions out of our hands and give them to the federal government,” said Pasch, a Democrat from Whitefish Bay. “It is penny-wise, pound-foolish, and most certainly presents a missed opportunity for Wisconsin to control its own destiny in designing a quality, consumer-friendly exchange.”

The health care exchanges are designed to help individuals and small businesses compare plans and increase competition by requiring insurers to offer more plans.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Walker turned away the federal funds as part of President Barack Obama's health care reform law because he doesn’t want to create a health care marketplace that is called for under the federal law.

The Republican governor said instead, he wants to create a plan locally, so the state will have more control over how the law is implemented, the newspaper says.

Additionally, in December, Walker said the state wouldn't implement the exchange until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the law, Today's TMJ4 reports. Walker also said the reforms will have a devastating economic impact.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to discuss the constitutionality of the law in March.

With Walker turning down the funds, the state will have to prove to the federal government that is prepared to set up its own marketplace, by Jan. 1, 2013.

“Legal challenges aside, federal healthcare reform is the law of the land, and this clear instance of political posturing will not change that fact,” Pasch said. “This is just yet another instance of how Walker’s ideologically-driven decisions and radical priorities are seriously jeopardizing the health of Wisconsin families and our most vulnerable individuals.”