Estimates show more than 276,000 Wisconsinites could lose coverage
GrassRoots Organizing Western Wisconsin (Groww) is running “deep canvassing” operations across western Wisconsin’s 3rd congressional district, the same district President Donald Trump visited in June to talk about farming, according to the Guardian. About 40 trained canvassers are working the region three times a week, the group’s co-executive director Bill Hogseth told the Guardian in a report published Saturday.
In deep canvassing, a canvasser shares a personal story to encourage a neighbor to share theirs, then assesses whether the neighbor’s support for a policy changes by the end of the conversation. Hogseth tells voters about his seizures, which he has multiple times a week, and the ambulance rides that follow. In return, voters share stories of ambulance trips, hospital bills, and broken bones.
“Regardless of who people vote for, [the issue of healthcare] is cutting into people’s anger,” Hogseth said.
The canvassers are pushing potential expansion of BadgerCare, Wisconsin’s Medicaid program for low-income families. Groww aims to have 4,000 conversations in the northern part of the district from May to November, Hogseth said. Canvassers filter out strong Democrats and strong Republicans, seeking to talk to people in the political middle.
The district is the site of a competitive race between Democrat Rebecca Cooke, who won her primary, and Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden. Cooke lists “healing our healthcare system” first on her campaign website’s priorities list and has spoken about her own coverage struggles. “I’ve actually canceled my own insurance through the ACA because it’s increased so much and I can’t afford it,” Cooke told the Guardian in June. “There’s a lot of people that I know that are doing the same.”
Van Orden voted for the federal reconciliation bill that Trump has called the “big beautiful bill.” Democrats project the bill will deliver $1 trillion in healthcare cuts over the next decade, with changes beginning in January, the Guardian reported. Two hospitals in western Wisconsin closed permanently in 2024, and researchers have identified others at risk of closure or service reductions, the Guardian reported.
Van Orden has disputed the characterization of the bill as making cuts to healthcare. “There has been no cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. There’s not going to be cuts to Medicare and Medicaid,” Van Orden said. “What’s going to end, though, is the rampant waste, fraud and abuse present.”
Wisconsin is one of 10 states that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and estimates show more than 276,000 Wisconsinites could lose healthcare coverage as the cuts roll out, the Guardian reported.
Some voters canvassers have spoken with describe the impact in specific terms. Teresa Kriese, 61, of the 3rd congressional district, has lung cancer that has spread to her brain. She has stayed alive beyond her doctor’s initial predictions through a clinical trial in Chicago that was defunded in January 2024. The drug she takes is still available, so she can continue treatment for now.
“It’s the only thing that’s kept me alive for the past three years,” Kriese said of the trial.
Kriese spoke at an Eau Claire rally against the healthcare cuts, citing the broader impact of clinical trial defunding. “Every single drug that you take, over-the-counter or prescription, at some point was in a clinical trial,” Kriese said. “So if we’re not funding them, that to me says this entire administration doesn’t care if we live or die.”
Mark Steigerwald, a 54-year-old colon cancer survivor from Eau Claire, saw his monthly health insurance premiums nearly triple this year after Congress allowed COVID-era subsidies to expire. His monthly cost is now more than $2,700, and his current plan has a $13,000 deductible for him and his wife. He has called private insurers, but none would cover him due to his pre-existing condition, leaving him with the ACA marketplace.
“If you’ve ever had an illness like cancer, you’ll never be without health insurance,” Steigerwald said. “That illness cost over $1m to deal with, and that was a good outcome.”
Steigerwald, a political independent, acknowledged that Van Orden voted to extend the subsidies, but said the U.S. Senate has not taken up a vote on the extension. He ranks healthcare among his top three issues for the November election. “I just want to see better responsibility for humanity,” Steigerwald said.
In Menomonie, a politically mixed town of about 17,000, most people agreed to talk to canvassers. One older woman said people in Washington don’t know what life is like for everyday people. “They don’t shop for their own groceries,” she said. A man at a different house pointed out that he sees health insurance company logos on NASCAR racecars. The canvassers’ broader goal, Hogseth said, is breaking through voter cynicism. “There’s a lot of people who are with us on the issue, who are either hopeless or cynical,” Hogseth said. “And they’re like, the only way things will change is if there’s a major crisis or if I move to another country. Part of what I think we need to break through with people on is their cynicism and hopelessness.”
Protests have followed Republican visits to the area. At a July protest in Taylor county, one of the reddest areas of the state, a decommissioned ambulance and gurney sat outside a picnic shelter next to a Republican picnic where GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany was set to speak. The proximity meant attendees of both events could look each other in the eyes, the Guardian reported. Similar protests have followed Van Orden’s events and visits from prominent Republicans including JD Vance.
Studies have shown deep canvasses can lead to reduced prejudice and decreased exclusionary attitudes. A 2020 study commissioned by People’s Action showed the method can change voting behavior, the Guardian reported.