Scott Walker may have long since been eclipsed as the scariest Republican out there, but the Wisconsin governor periodically pokes his head out to remind us he’s still here and he’s still terrible. Most recently, Walker is continuing his quest to drug test as many of the low-income residents of Wisconsin as he can, asking the Trump regime for permission to drug test Medicaid applicants.
- Screen these Medicaid applicants with questions about illegal drug use and actually test some of them for it. Refusing the test will mean the applicants go at least six months without state coverage. If they test positive, the individuals could receive treatment. Toward that goal Walker is asking federal officials to allow for residential substance abuse treatment for childless adults within Medicaid.
- Charge sliding scale premiums of $1 to $10 a month for single adults making $2,533 to $12,060 a year. BadgerCare recipients would have a 12-month grace period to pay past due premiums but if they don't eventually catch up, they'll lose their coverage for six months or until they start paying. Emergency visits would also start having copays of $8 for the first visit and $25 for those afterward in a year to nudge people toward cheaper forms of care.
Walker claims this is about pushing people into the workforce, but many Medicaid recipients do work. They just aren’t paid a living wage—a living wage being something Walker has no interest in promoting. There’s also no reason to believe low-income people use drugs more than others. But Walker is all about punishing and stigmatizing poor people.
Take those premiums of $1 to $10 a month. How much do you think Wisconsin is going to pay to figure out how much each person owes, bill them, and collect the money, vs. how much the state will actually collect in $1 premiums? And these are mostly working people, as evidenced by the fact that they have incomes, but somehow it’s still really important to take money they do not have to spare, what with living in poverty and all.
Does Scott Walker really hate poor people that much, or does he just find it convenient to scapegoat them as a means to getting himself more power? Maybe it doesn’t matter—he’s evil either way.