Here & Now

Here & Now for August 1, 2025

Announcer:
The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

Frederica Freyberg:
After a whopping victory, an investiture. Judge Susan Crawford sworn in as justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. And a final audit of the just passed state budget shows a billion and a half dollars in tax cuts, along with spending hikes.
I’m Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on “Here & Now,” a veterans housing and recovery program at risk. Our political panelists give their take on a toss-up governor’s election. And we continue our series “Rx Uncovered” looking at a prescription coupon that leaves some paying more. It’s “Here & Now” for August 1.

Announcer:
Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
First tonight, more than 350 military veterans are homeless in Wisconsin, according to the latest estimates. Some are getting a fresh start through the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program, which offers job training and support for addiction. But the program is now at risk after falling short of the funding it needed in the new state budget. That’s a concern for the veterans who rely on these services today, and for those who will need them in the future. But as “Here & Now” reporter Steven Potter tells us, there are hopes new bipartisan legislation could restore funding and keep the program running.

Michael Cable:
It’s like I developed all these bad habits with my anger and drinking, and I ended up in a shelter again.

Steven Potter:
Michael Cable is a veteran of the United States Navy. He’s also been homeless many times. First as a child, then as a young adult and then he became homeless again after leaving the Navy in 2010.

Michael Cable:
Came back, I was a full-blown alcoholic and anger — just couldn’t deal with my emotions at all.

Steven Potter:
Struggling to deal with life after the military.

Michael Cable:
You come back and it’s like your life’s gone. Everything’s changed.

Steven Potter:
He knew something drastic needed to happen and it did.

Michael Cable:
Once I got sober, I felt so much different about everything. I used to dream about everything all the time. And now I was actually doing things, working towards those dreams.

Steven Potter:
What changed is that Michael was accepted into the state’s Veterans Housing and Recovery Program at the Chippewa Falls location, known as Klein Hall. Graduating from that program in May, he got hired at a local plastics factory. And then, all of his hard work paid off, as this formerly homeless veteran became a homeowner.

Michael Cable:
I literally bought the first house I seen. I gave him a full price offer and moved in, and I — every day I’m just standing there like, I can’t believe it. It’s amazing.

Steven Potter:
Since opening in 2007, Klein Hall has helped roughly 1,000 of Wisconsin’s homeless and at-risk military veterans find their footing and eventually secure permanent housing. And while Michael is one of the success stories, he could also be one of the last veterans to use the transitional housing and recovery program. Due to a lack of funding in the new state budget, Klein Hall in Chippewa Falls and another similar location in Green Bay are slated to close their doors at the end of September.

Joey Hoey:
We were really saddened and disappointed with the budgetary decisions. It’s a horrible situation.

Steven Potter:
The Veterans Housing and Recovery Program is run by the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. Out of three locations, Assistant Deputy Director Joey Hoey says they now only have enough money to keep one site open.

Joey Hoey:
So we made some very difficult and agonizing decisions. We’ve decided that we’re going to focus our efforts on one of the three sites. It’s in Union Grove down by Milwaukee.

Steven Potter:
Politically, Democratic Governor Tony Evers has blasted Republicans in control of the state budget writing committee. In a statement, Evers said, “There will now be fewer options for homeless veterans as a result of the Legislature’s irresponsible decision to reject the investments that I proposed.” Joint Finance Committee Chairman Senator Howard Marklein and Representative Mark Born responded by saying the governor failed to make this program a funding priority during budget negotiations. And they added that the governor was “looking for a scapegoat to blame for his administration’s failure to adequately manage the changes to the program volume and demands.”

Derek Aune:
Who cares? Who cares whose fault it is? That doesn’t help the problem.

Steven Potter:
For veterans like Derek Aune, who first heard about it in prison, this program is not only transitional, but it can also be transformative.

Derek Aune:
I’m learning all the time about this mental health stuff. I do not do regular life well, but I know that if I want to stay out of prison, then I have to be willing to do stuff like this because it’s the best way for me to keep myself, like, in the right frame of mind.

Steven Potter:
Discharged from the Marines 20 years ago, Derek has been homeless several times over the years. At Klein Hall, he says he’s found stability and he’s been allowed to keep his emotional support animal, a friendly, attentive, husky mix named Phoenix, with him. He appreciates that the program here is built specifically and only for veterans.

Derek Aune:
That makes a big difference and you’ll hear that from almost every veteran across the board with any situation, whether it’s treatment or groups or whatever. There is a different feeling when you’re amongst other veterans.

Steven Potter:
Randy Withrow is the Klein Hall site director for Lutheran Social Services, which contracts with government veterans’ affairs agencies to manage the program.

Randy Withrow:
Nobody’s homeless because they don’t have shelter. It is a myriad of things that occur in their lives, whether it be legal, mental health, substance abuse, financial, that leads them to homelessness. And part of our job is to make sure that we shore up those areas so that then when they become either renters or owners, that they have the skills and the ability to handle that day-to-day living that you and I may take for granted.

Steven Potter:
Veterans stay in the program for a maximum of two years and participate in employment and education training. They receive meals and transportation assistance and are also required to maintain absolute sobriety. Program staff members are working to place veterans currently in the program in other housing initiatives, or to move them to the Union Grove location that’s staying open. But there is concern that if too much changes, some veterans will end up back on the streets.

Randy Withrow:
Change is not something that they necessarily experience well, and now they’ve got to go and meet a new group and interact and integrate into something that’s different.

Steven Potter:
Veterans’ affairs officials say there is still hope that the two housing program locations, scheduled to close in September, could be saved if new funding is secured soon and there is legislation being circulated at the State Capitol to do just that.

Joey Hoey:
If we were to get funding, we could quickly restart the program.

Steven Potter:
With two of the three locations closing, the overall program will shrink considerably from more than 100 beds total to just 40 beds at the Union Grove location. Veterans say keeping the program running is a necessity.

Derek Aune:
These kind of things are pivotal if you don’t want to have people rolling back through the system over and over and over again.

Michael Cable:
Just having a place where you can catch your breath and really get back your sanity. Doesn’t take much, just a place to stay, some food and a counselor, someone cares, someone you talk to… life changing. These guys are grateful for every bit of it.

Steven Potter:
Reporting from Chippewa Falls, I’m Steven Potter for “Here & Now.”

Frederica Freyberg:
With Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ announcement that he will not run for a third term, the November 2026 election for governor is wide open, and already candidates are lining up. On the Republican side, Whitefish Bay businessman Bill Berrien and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann have entered the race. Democratic Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez is also formally declared. Now, there are a whole lot more names potentially throwing their hat in the ring. For more on this, we turn to our political panelists, Republican Bill McCoshen and Democrat Scot Ross. Nice to see you both again.

Bill McCoshen:
Great to be with you.

Scot Ross:
Good to be here.

Frederica Freyberg:
Bill, what kind of opportunity is this for Republicans?

Bill McCoshen:
It’s pretty rare. It’s the second time in my 60 years on this earth where we’ve had an open gubernatorial seat. 2010 was the last time. Scott Walker beat Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. So the fact that it’s an open seat is an opportunity for Republicans to actually win here. Both of the national prognosticators, whether it’s the Cook Political Report or Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, moved this race from “lean Democrat” as soon as Tony Evers made his announcement to “toss-up.” So it’s an opportunity for the Republicans to potentially take back the governorship in 2026 here in the state of Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
So Scot, as to that toss-up kind of status, how would policymaking change if, in fact, a Republican were to win?

Scot Ross:
Well, I mean, obviously, if the Republican Party, which is wholly controlled by Donald Trump, were to win the gubernatorial election and Democrats not pick up either of the chambers, it would be the most radical, extreme, partisan handout to special interests and corporate and the wealthy that we’ve ever seen in the history of Wisconsin. But I think that you have to look beyond, you know, the sort of toss-up numbers when it comes to the Cooke. Yeah, if you look at it on face, Wisconsin, you know, goes back and forth. But if you look at the real numbers and where the Republican Party is right now, you know, if you’re not Donald Trump, the party has — Wisconsin voters have rejected you in statewide elections, election after election after election. And we — I think we’ve only had two of any consequence that have gone Republican in the last, like, 15 years. Ron Johnson, of course, who got in there because, you know, the DDDC abandoned Mandela Barnes and he was outspent by $26 million in racist third-party ads. And, and the Supreme Court race where they just, you know, they — where Democrats didn’t quite, hadn’t quite figured out how to lock up those races yet. Now it’s a completely different universe. And the Republican Party, with Donald Trump in full control of the government, isn’t getting more open for — isn’t getting more accommodating for swing voters.

Frederica Freyberg:
Bill, as to the Washington influence, 7th Congressional District Republican Tom Tiffany has been talking about running for a long time. What’s he waiting for?

Bill McCoshen:
He says he’s going to make a decision sometime around Labor Day. I hope he does it sooner than that. There are several Congresspeople in the House now that are running for governor in different states. Byron Donalds being at the top of the list in Florida. I think the president is a little concerned about that because the margin – the House, the GOP majority in the House, is so slim to begin with. So I don’t know if Tom Tiffany is going to get in. If — he’s got a lot of strong suits, for sure, but probably his weakest area is fundraising. He’s got $125,000 cash on hand, which today and Scot would agree, that’s a good Assembly race. That’s not a gubernatorial race. So fundraising is his biggest shortcoming. We’ll see if he gets in. At the end of the day, where Scot and I actually do agree, Donald Trump’s going to pick the winner of this primary, whoever he endorses in this primary will win the race for sure on our side.

Frederica Freyberg:
Who else are Republicans looking at, Bill? I mean, there’s, there is a long list of people out there.

Bill McCoshen:
Well, other names that are being bandied about are State Senator Mary Felzkowski, who comes from roughly the same geography as Tom Tiffany. She represents the 12th Senate District up north. If — she won’t get in if Tiffany does get in. But if Tiffany doesn’t get in, I would expect to see her join the race. You might remember she voted against the state budget. She’s the first Senate president to ever vote against a state budget. Eric Hovde’s name still gets talked about, and I think there’s a player to be named later. Again, because it’s an open seat, it’s a real opportunity. So I think there’s probably somebody on our side that people aren’t talking about yet who could get in this race. Remember, we got 375 days between now and the August 11, 2026 primary.

Scot Ross:
I’m sorry. I just want to say, like, I think the reason, you know, part of the part of the challenge the Republicans have, in contrast to the Democrats, is that their two Republicans have no experience. I mean, you know, you know, God bless Washington County, but it’s not even one of the top ten largest counties in Wisconsin. Whereas on the Democratic side, there is a very long list of people with credentials who have delivered for the people of Wisconsin, starting with the lieutenant governor, you know, continuing with the attorney general who’s gotten $750 million back from opioid settlement. Something that the previous Republican administration and previous Republican attorney general refused to allow us to get. You’ve got the county executive in the state’s largest county, David Crowley. You’ve got State Senator Kelda Roys, who’s, you know, who’s on the Joint Finance Committee and who’s run a couple times before. You know, there’s a long list of people with real credentials about doing the things that Wisconsinites want.

Bill McCoshen:
The one Scot didn’t mention was Ben Wikler, former party chairman. Nobody has raised more money than Ben Wikler. He is the best fundraiser on their side or our side. So if he decides to get in, he’ll be formidable.

Frederica Freyberg:
What do you say to that, Scot?

Scot Ross:
Oh, absolutely. Yes. I mean, Ben’s a great guy who’s traveled around the state doing the rubber chicken circuit, you know, for years. I mean, it’s a reason why a lot of us thought in 2022 that Rebecca Kleefisch was going to be the nominee for the Republicans, but the Republicans decided they don’t want to have a woman at the top of the ticket. So they went with an out of state businessman who lost.

Frederica Freyberg:
Scot, as to the toss-up status of the governor’s race, how much confidence, though, does the most recent ten-point victory of Justice, Susan Crawford, give Dems?

Scot Ross:
Well, they’re two different races, but it also shows that Democrats are able — have been able to mobilize their voters in a way that Republicans simply have not been able to do for a very, very long time. Again, they’ve — they’ve won a couple statewide elections. But the margins, percentage wise and number wise, are so much more narrow than the blowouts that the Democrats have been able to do, because, again, they’re talking about the things that people want. They want to make sure that people are protected. They want to make sure that abortion rights are protected and restored in some cases. You know, they want to make sure that when you go into court that you have your day in court and it’s not balanced towards the rich. That’s completely different to what the agenda of the, of the Republicans are, most embodied by the fact that, you know, we’ve got this big bad bill, which is now going to bankrupt, you know, the country. You know, kicked 270,000 Wisconsinites off of their health care, you know, snatch SNAP benefits, you know, literally take the food out of out of babies and children. That’s the agenda of the Republicans. And Democrats will continue to run on that and contrast both with what we’re trying to do.

Frederica Freyberg:
I wanted to just jump to the next Supreme Court election and have you described the stakes of that?

Bill McCoshen:
Well, we have Rebecca Bradley, who hasn’t decided whether she’s going to seek reelection or not. On her most recent finance report, she hadn’t raised any money. My advice to her is, if you’re not going to run, get out and give people time to raise money. I think one of the dynamics that — there’s a relationship between the two races. I don’t think the Supreme Court race is going to be as hotly contested as the last two were. I don’t think it will be a $100 million race because it isn’t for the majority. I think the gubernatorial race, now that it’s an open seat, will be the political Super Bowl in Wisconsin in 2026.

Frederica Freyberg:
Scot, we know that Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor is running for Supreme Court. How formidable is she?

Scot Ross:
I think she’s an incredibly formidable candidate and has built her career on protecting the rights of people in Wisconsin. You know, whether it is for living with dignity or abortion rights or whatever, you know, just that’s the — that’s the — that is the profile that she has, the record that she has and especially as a judge. And you know, that contrast, again, with Rebecca Bradley, who’s one of the most divisive, one of the most noxious elected officials that we’ve had in the history of the state of Wisconsin. And I think, you know, for her, what’s — you know, the problem is, if she’s waiting for a federal judgeship, like, what’s the incentive to taking out the incumbent from a judicial race when, by and large, over decades and Bill will agree with this, the incumbent wins. Almost used to be unheard of…

Bill McCoshen:
Almost 100%.

Scot Ross:
…that a judicial candidate wouldn’t win. Yeah.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. We need to leave it there. But really nice to see you both again. We’ll have you on more now that we’re heating up into this next election cycle. Thank you.

Bill McCoshen:
Thanks.

Scot Ross:
Great to be with you.

Frederica Freyberg:
Leftover money from the RNC in Milwaukee brings welcome news for nonprofits in the city. The Milwaukee 2024 Host Committee announced this week a $5 million donation to multiple local charities. That money comes from the remaining funds that were raised to support last summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The donations will go to organizations that focus on youth, veterans and shelters like Sober Living and halfway houses.
Turning to health care, we continue our coverage of prescription drugs. As drug prices for patients go up, health insurance coverage of them goes down. In our series “Rx Uncovered,” “Here and Now” producer Marisa Wojcik unpacks why this is happening and the impact it’s having on patients. In tonight’s story, we look at how health plans use accumulators to divert financial aid away from patients in need.

Tamra Varebrook:
I couldn’t believe what I found out when this happened. I couldn’t believe it was legal.

Marisa Wojcik:
Tamra Varebrook lives with painful chronic conditions. She can still live her life as long as she has her medication.

Tamra Varebrook:
I changed jobs and started over with a new copay and new deductible. That’s when this hit me. I wasn’t getting my medications. And you know, I thought, what? Why aren’t you sending them? They’re like, “Well, you have a $6,000 balance.” I had my first experience with copay accumulators. I had never even heard of him.

Marisa Wojcik:
A copay accumulator sounds like an obscure insurance term, and it is.

Tamra Varebrook:
And I know people don’t understand this if this doesn’t directly affect them.

Marisa Wojcik:
It’s also a growing trend among health plans. For Tamara’s conditions, her medication costs her the equivalent of buying a car every year.

Tamra Varebrook:
Right now, I take the entire prior year to save up, to try to have enough to buy my drug in January. It’s ridiculously expensive, but it’s the thing that makes me be able to walk and my arms bend and, you know, keep, you know, my joints moving so I don’t end up in a wheelchair.

Marisa Wojcik:
To afford her drugs, her doctors told her about patient assistance programs. It’s often the drug manufacturer helping the patient to afford their own high-priced medication. This kind of financial assistance is referred to as a copay coupon or copay card.

Tamra Varebrook:
That were meant to help the patients get their drugs and pay down their deductibles. Pay down their, you know, on their out-of-pocket maximums.

Marisa Wojcik:
Here’s how they work. A patient is prescribed an expensive name brand drug that doesn’t have a generic. Their health plan has a high deductible and out-of-pocket maximum, which they must meet before the plan will cover the drug. The copay card provides the financial assistance to cover the patient’s deductible and out-of-pocket max. When those are met, the health plan kicks in and covers all or part of the cost that remains of the drug, potentially saving the patient thousands of dollars.

Tamra Varebrook:
It was a life changer. I was, you know, pretty low income at the time when a lot of my medical issues started and I would never have been able to afford these medications.

Marisa Wojcik:
One day, she realized she wasn’t receiving the life-changing assistance or her medication. Tamara was blindsided.

Tamra Varebrook:
They weren’t shipping it. And so I kept calling and saying, “Well, why isn’t this shipping?” They’re like, “You owe $6,000.” And I’m like, “What do you mean I owe $6,000?”

Marisa Wojcik:
The drug company had provided the copay card.

Tamra Varebrook:
I’ve already gotten this and you know, it should be — my deductible at least should be covered.

Marisa Wojcik:
The problem was the financial assistance no longer covered her. The pharmacy told her…

Tamra Varebrook:
If you don’t pay for it in full, you are not getting your medication. And I went months without.

Marisa Wojcik:
Tamara had recently started a new job where her health plan contained a copay accumulator.

Tamra Varebrook:
I spent countless hours on phone calls. I can’t even tell you how upsetting it was.

Marisa Wojcik:
The accumulator is a relatively new tool used by health plans and pharmacy benefit managers. A copay accumulator takes the financial assistance, the copay card, and only applies it to the total cost of the drug. It does not count towards the patient’s deductible or out of pocket maximum. In other words, the patient no longer saves money. The health plan saves money by taking the full amount of the copay card and still collecting the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum paid by the patient.

Jim Turk:
This is a very scary moment for me, just knowing a lot of other people with MS.

Marisa Wojcik:
Jim Turk has multiple sclerosis or MS, a disease that attacks the body’s nerves. There’s no cure, only treatment.

Jim Turk:
If you’re on drugs, I mean, that’s your lifeline. That’s something that’s preventing that or at least slowing that down significantly from happening. So they don’t have as much stress in their life either. And the stress in their life can also exacerbate the symptoms. So it’s just this vicious circle.

Marisa Wojcik:
He’s an advocate for people with MS, knowing the struggles firsthand.

Jim Turk:
I look at a list to see what all the drugs cost. Ocrevus, the one that I was on last, which was actually the newer drug, was one of the cheaper drugs and that was, I think, $70 or $80,000 a year, which I can’t afford. I’m on disability.

Marisa Wojcik:
Having been the recipient of copay cards, he stresses their importance for patients to survive.

Jim Turk:
You have to make the choice between paying for your drugs that might be a lifesaver or paying for groceries. And obviously, there’s no choice there. Or paying for rent. And that’s really what it comes down to.

Marisa Wojcik:
And a copay accumulator…

Jim Turk:
They’re essentially designed to be confusing.

Marisa Wojcik:
…makes that choice even harder.

Tamra Varebrook:
I thought, holy cow. Well, in 21 states, it is now illegal, but not Wisconsin.

Marisa Wojcik:
Other states have outlawed accumulators, and a bill currently in Wisconsin’s Legislature would as well. At a hearing, health plans and pharmacy benefit managers spoke in opposition.

Patrick Lobejko:
This bill does nothing to control the soaring prices of prescription drugs set by pharmaceutical manufacturers, but instead rewards drug makers for steering patients towards more expensive brand name drugs.

Marisa Wojcik:
They say copay cards are a ploy by pharmaceutical companies to get patients to take expensive name brand drugs.

Sharon Faust:
Rather than benefiting those in financial need, a lot of these coupons from manufacturers act as an inducement to move to higher cost products.

Marisa Wojcik:
Supporters of accumulators say they lower costs by saving health plans money, not just one patient, but others refuted these claims.

Bill Robie:
Nearly all copay assistance programs from manufacturers are for drugs with no generic alternatives. The copay assistance increases medication adherence. Studies have found that morbidity and mortality associated with poor medication adherence cost the US healthcare system $528 billion annual. Nonadherence can lead to treatment failure, resulting in poor outcomes such as worsening of condition, admission to the emergency room and hospitalization, and requiring new prescriptions to treat subsequent comorbidities, which results in higher cost to the entire health care system. That is what will increase premiums.

Marisa Wojcik:
This rings true for Tamra.

Tamra Varebrook:
The specific drug is not the only cost of chronic disease. Chronic disease causes people to miss work, end up in emergency rooms, hospital bills.

Marisa Wojcik:
Drug manufacturers do not like accumulators because the assistance doesn’t go to help the patient. She fears they may end up not providing the assistance at all.

Tamra Varebrook:
I’m afraid that the pharmaceutical companies stop the programs because they’re not helping the patients, and that would be a real nightmare because then everybody would suffer. This is where we’re at in Wisconsin now, and I feel bad for everybody who has a child or, you know, any adult that runs into these issues because most people are not prepared with that kind of money, and you aren’t going to get your medication.

Frederica Freyberg:
Reporting from Germantown, I’m Marisa Wojcik for “Here & Now.”

Frederica Freyberg:
For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBSWisconsin.org and then click on the news tab. That’s our program for tonight. I’m Frederica Freyberg. Before we go, I’d like to acknowledge and say goodbye to one of our reporters. Aditi Debnath joined us in 2023. She’s been a great asset. Now she’s on the move. Today is her last day at PBS Wisconsin. We wish her all the best. Have a good weekend.

Announcer:
Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.