Derrick Van Orden

Wisconsin’s Medicaid and Medicare program should serve the people it was intended for: children, pregnant women, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. The Working Families Tax Cuts strengthens the program by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse that have stretched resources too thin for too long.

The so-called ‘cuts’ being discussed are not reductions in care for vulnerable populations—they come from implementing commonsense work requirements for able-bodied adults. If you are capable of working, you should be working. These reforms restore accountability and help ensure Medicaid remains a safety net, not a permanent alternative to employment.

Unlike under the Biden administration, when western Wisconsin saw two hospitals close down in Eau Claire, Republicans advanced a historic $50 billion investment in rural health care through the Rural Health Transformation Program to strengthen the hospitals, clinics, and providers Wisconsin communities depend on.

Over the next 10 years, Medicaid spending is projected to increase by more than 30%. The Working Families Tax Cut preserved Medicaid for vulnerable American citizens, removed illegal aliens from the program, and implemented 20-hour-per-week work requirements or job training for able-bodied adults on welfare — a policy supported by 80% of Wisconsin voters in 2023. I will continue strengthening this program for those who truly need it while encouraging opportunity, work, and independence over government dependency.