BadgerCare

[3] The plan was to have been paid for by a $15 billion payroll tax, making it incredibly unpopular among the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly, and Democratic governor Jim Doyle.

[4] Since Governor Doyle opposed the Senate's mandate plan, he chose instead to expand BadgerCare, claiming that 98% of Wisconsinites would have some form of health insurance under his expansion.

According to a state document[5] sent to healthcare providers in January 2008, BadgerCare+ expanded enrollment to: The revised plan also covered tobacco cessation products such as nicotine gum.

Soon after taking office in 2011, Governor Scott Walker began pursuing large funding cuts to BadgerCare as a government deficit reduction measure.

[10][11] After taking office in 2019, Governor Tony Evers began pushing to expand BadgerCare Plus by about 76,000 participants, which Republican opponents argued would "shift costs to the private sector.