Evers vows to withdraw from Obamacare lawsuit in Eau Claire visit

Jan. 23--Gov. Tony Evers reiterated his intention to withdraw Wisconsin from a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act during a visit Wednesday to Eau Claire.

Despite claims by some state Republicans that such a move would be illegal after a law GOP legislators enacted during a lame-duck session after November's election, the Democratic governor vowed to press forward on following through on his campaign promise.

"I've asked the attorney general (Josh Kaul) to remove us from that lawsuit that is actively trying to remove us from the Affordable Care Act and all the benefits that the program has, and we'll see what the attorney general does with it moving forward," Evers told reporters after tours of Marshfield Medical Center-Eau Claire Hospital and Chippewa Valley Technical College the morning after his first State of the State speech.

"The attorney general will not do something that's illegal, and I trust him to decide how to move forward," Evers said.

In another departure from Republican legislative leaders and his predecessor, former GOP Gov. Scott Walker, Evers said he also plans to include in his budget proposal a plan for the state to expand Medicaid eligibility to nearly 80,000 Wisconsin residents under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

While Republican leaders have staunchly opposed that action, Evers said he campaigned and was elected in part based on advocating for accepting federal money for the Medicaid expansion and suggested GOP lawmakers might soften their stance if they heard from enough residents.

"We're going to rally the troops across the state," Evers said. "I'm hoping that the people of Wisconsin will be active in this budget process and convince their legislators otherwise."

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