Republican lawmakers say they won’t support Gov. Scott Walker’s changes to Wisconsin’s SeniorCare prescription drug program, but they also won’t rule out raising premiums on the people who use it.
Walker’s budget would require all SeniorCare recipients to sign up for the federal Medicare Part D prescription drug program, a move his administration said would save the state roughly $15 million.
But Assembly Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair John Nygren said the public, and several of his fellow Republican lawmakers, wanted SeniorCare to be maintained.
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“In my job, it’s all about making sure that I’ve got 63 votes to pass the budget, so when we hear overwhelmingly from our members on a particular issue, we take that pretty seriously,” Nygren said.
Nygren said the budget could still increase premiums on SeniorCare to keep up with increased costs. Assembly Democrat Andy Jorgensen said charging people more would simply be sentencing SeniorCare to a slower death than what the governor proposed.
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