Baldwin questions Walker on BadgerCare transition

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is asking Walker for an update on his plan to transition some 77,000 Wisconsinites from BadgerCare to the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges.

Walker and GOP lawmakers agreed to delay by three months his plan to move those residents off BadgerCare and into the exchanges because of problems with the Obamacare rollout. That transition is expected to begin at the end of March.

Baldwin, D-Madison, has been a critic of Walker's approach and noted in a letter to Walker she believes he "took our state taxpayers down a fiscally irresponsible path."

She wrote as a condition of the feds' approval for Walker's plan, the state was supposed to track those who transitioned from BadgerCare to the exchanges. She requested an immediate report on the status of the 77,000 residents.

"If you keep your word and abide by the public reporting and constituent communications requirements in the CMS approval, it will be a positive step in keeping your promise to cut Wisconsin's uninsured rate in half," Baldwin wrote. "If, on the other hand, you do not keep your word, our state will have far more uninsured individuals than we should at the beginning of April."

Walker's administration said it planned to respond to Baldwin's letter. It also said the state should have updated data on those who transitioned to the exchanges in early April but noted the feds have been unable to say when they'll be able to help with the necessary data match.