“In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that the Affordable Health Care Act is constitutional, we must act now to take the appropriate steps to bring our state into compliance and help our citizens and small businesses that need insurance. The Affordable Care Act was approved over two years ago and the Supreme Court has the final word on constitutional matters, so now it is time to put people before politics and implement health care reform in Michigan. We need to ignore partisan calls for us to wait until after the November election and do what is right for our citizens. This law will help people get the high-quality, affordable coverage they need and deserve. We have no excuse but to move forward.
“The health care exchange bill, Senate Bill 693, was passed by the Senate last November and has sat idle in the House Committee on Health Policy since then. If Michigan does not act before the end of the year, the federal government will create the exchange for us. This means we will cede control of the structure of our exchange while simultaneously leaving on the table significant federal funding available to states who are actively working to establish theirs.”