Wis. governor rejects HIE funding

Scott Walker, R, Governor of Wisconsin Source: www.scottwalker.org

Embattled Republican governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, is planning to turn down $37 million from the federal government that had been awarded to help implement healthcare insurance exchange. The announcement comes after Walker declared last month that Wisconsin would not pursue implementing the exchange until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the awarding of the grants worth $241 million in February 2011 to help a group of Early Innovator states design and implement IT infrastructure that can be adopted and tailored by other states. On Jan. 18, Walker said he was notifying the federal government that Wisconsin was turning down the Early Innovator Grant, saying it didn't make sense to commit to reforms that could have a devastating economic impact.

"Stopping the encroachment of Obamacare in our state, which has the potential to have a devastating impact on Wisconsin's economy, is a top priority. Wisconsin has been a leader and innovator in healthcare reform for two decades, and we have achieved a high level of health insurance coverage without federal mandates," Walker said in a statement regarding the PPACA. The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled several days of oral arguments at the end of March to consider whether the law is constitutional.

Meanwhile, the PPACA provides that, if Wisconsin does not establish an operational and effective health exchange by January 2013, the federal government will step in and do so.

Walker already faces a recall election. Now that he’s been in office for one year, the process has moved forward. His opponents, led by United Wisconsin, the coalition that spearheaded the effort, collected and on Tuesday submitted well over the 540,000 signatures required to force a recall election.