Baldwin asks administration for special Wisconsin insurance enrollment

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) asked the Obama administration to grant a special enrollment period for Wisconsin citizens to enroll in health insurance offered by the federal marketplace.

In a letter released Tuesday to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, Baldwin said that about 38,000 individuals have been left without health insurance after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker decided to reject federal funds for the state’s health insurance program, known as “BadgerCare.”

{mosads}”The fact that Governor Walker was unable to transition nearly 38,000 people to the federal marketplace is extremely troubling,” Baldwin wrote. 

Baldwin urged Tavenner to establish a special enrollment period so that the individuals left without coverage do not have to wait until 2015 to enroll.

“I ask that you use your authority to open a new enrollment period immediately so that these Wisconsites can receive health insurance as soon as possible,” Baldwin wrote. 

The Wisconsin Democrat slammed Walker’s decision.

“Wisconsin is paying a steep price for our governor’s insistence on putting politics ahead of progress,” Baldwin wrote.