Governor Rick Snyder and other Republican governors are asking congressional GOP leaders for a do-over on the health care overhaul. Four GOP governors say the plan to be voted on next week falls short.
Anna Heaton is Snyder’s press secretary. She says the plan jeopardizes Michigan’s Medicaid expansion by choking off money for the program.
“Basically, what it does is it shifts the full costs of Medicaid to the states, so it would just be unsustainable and we likely wouldn’t be able to enroll anyone else in our Healthy Michigan program.”
Heaton says there are more than 600,000 people in Michigan who have benefited from Healthy Michigan. She says it’s also reduced the costs of providing healthcare in the state.
“The people who enrolled have been to see their doctor more frequently," Heaton said. "They’re staying out of the emergency room, which, as we know, is extremely costly, and uncompensated care costs have fallen by 50%.”
