LANSING – State Representatives George Darany (D-Dearborn), Minority Vice Chairman of the House Health Policy Committee, and Andy Schor (D-Lansing) called on Gov. Rick Snyder today to join with our neighboring state of Ohio’s lead and accept federal funding to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act.
“Gov. Snyder needs to join Gov. John Kasich and accept this money to give more Michiganders access to health care through Medicaid,” said Darany. “This will be a significant savings to taxpayers because people will get care when they need it instead of waiting until they are so sick they need to go to an emergency room.”
Ohio became the latest state to expand Medicaid when republican Gov. Kasich announced Monday that he would accept federal funding to expand Medicaid, saying in the press that it made sense for Ohio.
“We know that using the emergency room for health care is expensive, and those costs get passed along to taxpayers, so expanding Medicaid to cover more uninsured people is the fiscally responsible thing to do,” said Schor. “Governors of both parties are on board with accepting federal dollars to expand Medicaid. Gov. Snyder needs to do what’s right for taxpayers and hundreds of thousands of uninsured Michiganders and accept the federal money to expand Medicaid.”
Schor is the sponsor of House Resolution 17 which urges the governor to agree to the Medicaid expansion.
The House Fiscal Agency estimates that Michigan would see a net savings of more than $211 million in the first year of Medicaid expansion, and a possible savings of more than $1 billion over a 10 year period. They estimate that about 400,000 people may be newly Medicaid-eligible under this expansion.
“Covering more people offers our hard-working families the security of knowing that if their child gets sick, they can see a doctor. If mom or dad gets sick, they too can see a doctor and maybe get better quickly so they don’t have to miss work,” said Darany. “The governor needs to say yes now and accept this money to expand Medicaid.”