Michigan Senate Passes Medicaid Expansion

The Michigan Senate passed HB4714 yesterday evening, with a 20-18 vote. HB4714 enables Michigan to expand eligibility rules for Medicaid enrollment to allow anyone under 133% of the federal poverty level to qualify for Medicaid, the state’s health care plan for low-income individuals and families. This could enable up to 400,000 more people to have health care coverage across the state, approximately 13,000 of which live in Washtenaw County.

The bill now goes to the House, where Speaker Bolger said that they could vote as early as September 3. Governor Snyder said he will sign the bill.

Just after HB4714 passed the Senate, a vote was taken to have the bill go into effect immediately. Immediate effect was denied in a 24-16 vote. That’s two votes short of the two-thirds majority, which would have been 26 votes in favor. As it currently stands, the new eligibility and coverage will go into effect on April 1, 2014, unless there is another attempt at an immediate effect vote. That could happen after the House votes to accept the changes to the bill by the Senate.

Enrollment using the new eligibility guidelines begins October 1, and coverage could begin either January 1 or April 1, 2014, depending on the result of a second immediate effect vote in the Senate. The WHI Medicaid Outreach & Enrollment group is working to coordinate outreach and enrollment efforts across the county. If you have questions or want to get involved, please contact Carrie Rheingans, WHI Project Manager, at crheinga@umich.edu or 764-998-7567.

 

Coverage of Medicaid Expansion Vote

Local/State

National

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