Republicans in Lansing are trying to roll back the state’s Medicaid expansion – but their legislation may be dead on arrival.
Governor Rick Snyder has been an advocate for the Healthy Michigan Medicaid expansion at home and in Washington, D.C.
But some Republicans in the state House want to close the expansion to all new enrollees beginning October 1st. HB 4598 is currently waiting for its first committee hearing.
In an email to supporters, Speaker of the House Tom Leonard applauded the effort saying that the program has grown bigger than supporters initially promised.
But Governor Rick Snyder told reporters last week, “The enrollment’s been relatively stable.”
“One of the big issues is what’s happening in Washington,” Snyder continued. “So generally I would say we need to be paying careful attention and not just passive about what’s going on in Washington. Let’s talk about the benefits that we’ve seen.”
Leonard said he wants to, “Essentially ensure that this Medicaid expansion that we have right now would not bankrupt our state.” And he believes legislation like HB 4598 would help with that.
Lawmakers in DC have been trying since January to come up with a replacement for the Affordable Care Act.
While they debate, Snyder has made efforts to promote the Healthy Michigan expansion as a model for what other states should do. Snyder said, “People have coverage, lives have been saved, because of Healthy Michigan and we should be proud of that.”
