I know health care is still too expensive for too many Wisconsinites, and we have more work to do to make quality care more affordable and accessible.

That's why I want to address some of the misinformation you're hearing about Medicaid, work requirements, and recent health care reforms.

Last year, I voted to require able-bodied adults of working age without young children to work or volunteer 20 hours a week to receive certain taxpayer-funded benefits. These requirements will help protect Medicaid benefits for pregnant women, children, seniors, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable Americans.

Wisconsinites overwhelmingly support this measure. In 2023, 80% of Wisconsin voters supported work requirements for able-bodied, childless adults receiving taxpayer-funded benefits.

These reforms are projected to save taxpayers $317 billion over the next ten years. Some in Washington call that a “cut.” I call it protecting taxpayers and preserving these programs for our most vulnerable.

Fraud is part of the problem, too. Medicaid fraud cases in Wisconsin exceeded $15.5 million from 2019 through 2022, and a recent nationwide health care fraud takedown involved more than $6.5 billion in alleged fraud.

Taxpayers shouldn't be forced to foot the bill for fraud while hardworking families struggle to pay their own health care costs. That's why I also voted to strengthen fraud-prevention safeguards and stop states from using taxpayer-funded health care benefits for illegal immigrants.

At the same time, I’m working to lower health care costs and improve access to quality care across Wisconsin.

I helped create the Rural Health Transformation Fund, which will provide Wisconsin with more than $200 million this year to strengthen rural health care.

Prescription drug prices have fallen more than 3% over the last year, the fastest decline in more than six decades.

And Wisconsin is projected to receive more federal Medicaid funding, not less. Under the Wisconsin state budget, federal law, and a proposed federal rule, we are expected to receive an increase of more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid funding.

Only in Washington could an increase of more than $1 billion be called a “cut.”

But I also know statistics don't pay your medical bills. Health care remains too expensive, and there is much more work to do.

For the last 20 years, Washington has often responded to rising costs by spending more money and adding more subsidies without addressing why health care costs so much in the first place.

We need price transparency so you know what you're paying before you get the bill. We need more competition so patients have choices. And we need to protect programs like Medicaid for the people who truly need them while respecting the taxpayers who fund them.

That’s the work I’ll continue to do. We must protect our safety net programs for vulnerable Americans while tackling what is driving health care costs higher in the first place. Thanks again for starting your weekend with us. We’ll be back with another edition of the Tiffany Telegram in two weeks.