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PHOTO: State Rep. Carrie A. Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) speaks alongside Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, public health expert and 2026 Michigan U.S. Senate candidate, at the MiCare Town Hall on Monday, June 23, 2025. |
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LANSING, Mich., June 26, 2025 — State Rep. Carrie A. Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) hosted a town hall on her MiCare legislation, HB 4407, which would establish a universal, publicly-funded health care system for all Michiganders with no premiums, co-pays, or deductibles. The event, held at Mill Creek Middle School in Dexter, featured special guest Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a physician, public health expert, and former Wayne County Health Department director. Dr. El-Sayed joined Rheingans in calling for bold action to fix Michigan’s health care system. “Our current system forces people to make impossible choices — between affording prescriptions or rent, between seeing a doctor or putting food on the table,” Rheingans said. “We need a system that puts patients over profits. MiCare would guarantee every Michigan resident the freedom and dignity of health care they can count on.” MiCare would provide comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and behavioral coverage for all Michigan residents. It would be publicly financed while continuing to use the current mix of private and public providers. The plan aims to reduce excessive administrative costs and treat health care as a fundamental right, not a for-profit business. “Health care is a human right. Rather than allowing private health insurance CEOs to continue to profit off of the hard-earned money we pay for our family’s health care, Rheingans’s MiCare proposal is about guaranteeing that every Michigander has health care without the premiums, copays, or deductibles that put too many of us in debt. State-level proposals like MiCare that build on national momentum for Medicare for All are critical in the fight for a fairer health care system for all of us. I applaud her leadership and proudly stand with her in the fight for universal care in our state,” Dr. El-Sayed said. Attendees of the town hall heard directly from Rheingans and Dr. El-Sayed about how the MiCare plan would work and why it is urgently needed given the rising costs and looming federal cuts to Medicaid facing Michiganders. “This is the right fight for our generation,” said Rheingans. “I’m committed to making sure every Michigander can get the health care they need — without going into debt, without being uninsured or underinsured, and without being forced to stay in a job just for the health benefits.” ### |