July 28, 2006

MI First Health Care Plan will make health care accessible, affordable

LANSING – In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today underscored the importance of providing accessible and affordable health care for every person in Michigan.  Granholm will travel around the state next week to meet with citizens to discuss the impact of rising health care costs.
 
“When you or someone you care about is sick, the last thing you should worry about is how much the doctor or medicine will cost,” Granholm said.  “No matter their age, their income, or their hometown, the citizens I’ve met are struggling to make sure their families have access to the health care they need at a price they can afford.”
 
Since taking office, Granholm has been working to provide accessible, affordable health care for Michigan citizens.
 
Earlier this year, Granholm proposed the MI First Health Care Plan to establish universal access to affordable health care coverage.  Increasing the number of individuals with access to health care will also help reduce the cost of health care for all.  Health care providers and insurance companies currently subsidize the cost of health care for the uninsured, costing those with health insurance an additional $730 annually.   
 
During the last three years, the Granholm administration has worked hard to make health care available to all Michigan citizens.  Health care accomplishments include:

• restoring health care coverage to more than 40,000 people who had been cut off by the previous administration;

• negotiating the nation’s first bulk-buying pool for prescription drugs;

• creating the MiRx discount card to make prescription drugs more affordable for citizens without drug coverage – with 37,000 people now enrolled;

• 15 additional Federally Qualified Health Centers opened around the state;

• ensuring the Detroit Medical Center would continue operating; and,

• increasing the number of county health plans that provide health coverage to tens of thousands of people.

“Expanding access to affordable health care is the right thing to do for our families and for our businesses, and as governor, it’s an issue I’ll continue fighting for on behalf of all our citizens,” Granholm said.

The governor’s weekly radio address is released each Friday at 10:00 a.m. and may be heard on broadcast stations across the state through an affiliation with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.  The address will also be available on the Governor’s website on Mondays as a podcast for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers.

Broadcasters Note: Governor Granholm’s radio address can be accessed through Sunday evening exclusively through the Members Only page of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters website.

Publishers Note: The text of today’s address is attached.