Ensuring that healthcare in Wisconsin is accessible and affordable while increasing our healthcare workforce to care for our most vulnerable people remains a top priority for me as a legislator representing rural counties. That is why I authored legislation to help solve the shortage of certified nursing assistants through our long-term care system and expand programs to engage our young students to take up a career in healthcare in Wisconsin. I also sought to increase telehealth and broadband access so that patients could contact doctors outside of western Wisconsin.

Because of this, I'm pleased that the state budget, which the governor recently approved, upholds my long-standing commitment to making healthcare more accessible and affordable by allocating over $3 billion in new funds for our state's healthcare system.

Maintaining financing for the Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan, which lowers prices for those purchasing plans through the online health insurance exchange (marketplace), is one of the budget's key elements. People would have had to pay 21.4% more for insurance in the marketplace without this initiative, according to the Office of Commission of Insurance. Because of this program, Wisconsin continues to be one of the states with the best healthcare systems and our rate of uninsured people is far lower than the national average.

The budget also increased the amount of Medicaid reimbursement that hospitals receive and increased supplemental payments to rural hospitals. These increases help cover costs for primary care physicians, ER visits, and hospital services for behavioral health units. Additionally, the supplemental payments that were allocated will expressly help places like our 93rd Assembly District. This includes higher financing for hospitals that treat many Medicaid patients as well as additional payments for rural access hospitals.

There are also a number of focused initiatives to support our long-term care industry. In the last budget I supported allocating an increase of $440 million for this industry and this budget includes even more with a $492 million investment. Increased personal care reimbursement rates are being provided together with much-needed increases in home and community-based services and into the direct care workforce to assist people in family care. In an effort to ensure that nursing homes can continue to provide care for their population, the money will also aid in offering more nursing facility incentive payments and help defray the cost of residents who require ventilators.

I am pleased to see that our state's healthcare system continues to be more accessible and inexpensive thanks to the governor signing this reasonable Republican Legislature authored budget.