On 3/23/10, President Obama signed into law comprehensive health care reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The law, and subsequent legislation, seeks to expand access to health care through new federal mandates on individuals and businesses. The law dramatically changes the structure of individual and group health insurance markets, as well as publicly provided health benefits, and establishes strict deadlines for compliance. To ensure that manufacturers, the largest purchasers of health care benefits, are not adversely or disproportionately impacted by state efforts to implement federal health care reform, MMA will work closely with the Snyder Administration and legislative leadership on authorizing legislation and regulations.

Top Topics

Medicaid Expansion

On 2/6/13, Governor Rick Snyder announced his support for the expansion of Medicaid to an estimated 450,000 low-income Michigan residents as allowed for under the Federal Affordable Care Act (ACA).  To review the impact of the expansion, the MMA Health Care Policy Committee (HCPC) welcomed Nick Lyon and Tim Becker of the Michigan Department of Community Health (DCH) on 3/20/13.

Lyon, DCH chief deputy director, and Becker, DCH senior deputy director of operations, presented their findings on the economic impact of the proposed Medicaid expansion now being discussed in the Legislature. Among their key points was the expectation of higher “shared responsibility” payments by employers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in states that do not expand Medicaid. Without Medicaid expansion, Michigan employers could see shared responsibility payments from over $54 million to over $81 million.

MMA has been asked by the Snyder Administration to support the Medicaid Expansion and is actively soliciting feedback from member companies. Contact MMA’s Delaney McKinley, at 517-487-8530 or mckinley@mma-net.org with your thoughts on the likely impact of the Medicaid Expansion on our state and your company’s bottom line.

Health Insurance Exchange

The fight for allowing Michigan to have a seat at the table in decisions regarding the federally mandated health insurance exchange appears to be at an end. The Senate did not take up a vote on HB 4111, sponsored by Representative Joe Haveman (R-Holland), before the 3/21/13 deadline for a decision established by Governor Rick Snyder. The bill would have appropriated over $30 million in federal funds for the creation of a state-federal partnership on a health insurance exchange as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), but lacked support in the Senate.

States have three options in developing the exchange: a state run exchange, partnering with the federal government for a shared program or defaulting to the federal exchange. Efforts to establish a state-run exchange ended in 2012 when the measure failed to receive enough support in the House. This week’s lack of action on HB 4111 precludes Michigan from a partnership model so citizens will utilize the federal exchange.