LANSING – One element of a proposed national health care plan is getting more people on Medicaid. And that could mean more costs for Michigan and other states, said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) at an event in Lansing on Monday.
Stabenow said the goal of the plan, at least as the U.S. Senate Finance Committee is looking at it, is to bring down the costs of health care for all residents, and their insurers. But she said leaders are still working out who would pay for any increased Medicaid costs from the additional caseloads.
“The governors would like the federal government to pay for all of that,” Stabenow said. But she said the state’s share is still under discussion.
She reiterated that the plan is to have the overall program covered through cost savings within the system, not with increases in federal spending.
The plan, she said, is to focus more on preventative care rather than the current procedure-based billing system.
Some of the plan would, however, also be covered through givebacks from insurers and other parts of the system. “Insurance companies and drug companies will be asked to pay for part of this,” she said.
But she also acknowledged that right now there is not the political will to move anything from the Finance Committee. She hoped that would change before the end of the year.
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