Walker, Evers scrap over pre-existing conditions as former health chiefs campaign for them
GOP Gov. Scott Walker pledged Monday to make sure people with preexisting conditions have insurance coverage — a claim Democratic challenger Tony Evers called hollow because Walker authorized a lawsuit to end such coverage.
The two staked out their stances as they campaigned with rival health officials —Walker with Tommy Thompson, the four-time Wisconsin governor and health and human services secretary under President George W. Bush, and Evers with Kathleen Sebelius, the former Kansas governor and health and human services secretary under President Barack Obama.
"As long as I am governor, we will cover preexisting conditions," Walker said during a stop with Thompson at Pro Engineering & Manufacturing in Milwaukee.
Evers, the state schools superintendent, disputed that claim at a stop in Madison because of the lawsuit Walker approved against the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Evers said Walker took a hard stance against the health law when he briefly ran for president in 2015 but is now trying to back out of that position.
"He has made it very clear he's not going to be concerned about preexisting conditions," Evers said. "He's in court .... trying to get rid of the entire Affordable Care Act and with that those preexisting conditions."
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Walker and Evers began their latest exchange over health care late Sunday on Twitter. Walker posted a message Sunday night touting his support for covering preexisting conditions and followed up it up Monday with a video he tweeted.
"My wife Tonette is a type 1 diabetic," Walker said in the video. "My mother is a survivor of breast cancer. My brother has a heart condition. You see, covering preexisting conditions is personal to me. Plus it’s just the right thing to do. As long as I’m governor, I will always cover preexisting conditions."
Evers countered that Walker couldn't be trusted on the issue because he is continuing the federal lawsuit aimed at overturning the Affordable Care Act.
Walker in 2017 said he "certainly would consider" ending requiring insurers to cover those with preexisting conditions but within hours backed off the idea and said he was not looking to change any rules for those with preexisting conditions.
In campaign stops in Milwaukee and Madison, Sebelius said Walker had given up more than $1 billion in federal funding for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, affecting the health care coverage for some 70,000 people.
"This is happening all over the country. Republicans who have been against any of the health reforms for the last eight years are suddenly seeing a new light," Sebelius said in Milwaukee. "Unfortunately, they're just not telling the truth."
Evers' running mate, former state Rep. Mandela Barnes, later added, "Governor Walker isn't seeing the light, he's seeing poll numbers."
Sebelius touted her Wisconsin ties in her Madison stop, noting her sister, Ellen Gilligan, is the president of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report from Milwaukee.