With voters heading to the polls on November 3, Congressman Derrick Van Orden is reminding western and central Wisconsin families about concrete steps he’s taken to protect local hospitals and bring more federal funding to the Third District.
Locking In $1 Billion More for Wisconsin Medicaid
In July 2025, Wisconsin faced a hard deadline. New federal rules were about to freeze the state’s hospital tax rate, which helps draw down federal Medicaid matching dollars. Van Orden wrote directly to Governor Tony Evers on July 2, urging him to sign the state budget immediately so the higher hospital assessment (moving from roughly 1.8% to the federal maximum of 6%) could take effect in time.
State leaders acted. The budget was passed and signed on July 3 (before the federal bill) locking in the higher rate. That move allowed Wisconsin to draw roughly $1 billion more a year in federal Medicaid funding for hospitals and providers across the state. Van Orden then worked with the Trump Administration and CMS to get the higher rate grandfathered, protecting the enhanced funding so it continues flowing to Wisconsin hospitals, including those serving rural communities in the Third District.
Real Support for Rural Hospitals
Van Orden has made rural health care a priority. Wisconsin received $203.7 million in the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program—part of a new $50 billion national program to help rural hospitals, clinics, and healthcare providers strengthen the workforce, improve technology and expand access close to home.
This means more resources for the hospitals that seniors, veterans, children, and working families in places like La Crosse, Eau Claire, and smaller towns across the district depend on. Voters in the Driftless area of Wisconsin have the opportunity to reelect DVO who has been fighting in Washington to protect and strengthen rural healthcare access in Wisconsin’s Third District.
