MARQUETTE, MI-- Governor Rick Snyder stopped in Marquette Tuesday to promote Medicaid expansion in Michigan.
Snyder says the plan would extend health coverage to nearly 500,000 residents who now rely on emergency room visits for their health care, which makes it expensive for the rest of the population.
“We’re paying for all those uninsured people already through higher insurance premiums,” he says. “We’re already paying the bill, folks. All this does is change who’s writing the checks.”
Snyder is asking residents to talk to their Senators about passing the Healthy Michigan plan—especially those lawmakers who oppose it.
“The question I’ve asked several Senators already is, that said they were ‘no’ on this, I said, ‘How are you going to feel if we don’t do Healthy Michigan and you have to walk into an emergency room? And you’re going to see people in chairs there that you don’t know if all those people are going to survive.’”
The state House approved Medicaid expansion last month, but the Senate adjourned without taking action on the bill.