In addition to signing Senate Bill 219, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer put her signature on House Bills 4495 and 4496 Wednesday, July 19, which aim to streamline and increase access to the Healthy Michigan Plan, a Medicaid program provided through the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and authorized under the federal Affordable Care Act.
Created by the Michigan Legislature in 2014, the Healthy Michigan Plan now covers about one million people in the state. Available to those who don’t meet the requirements for other Medicaid programs, Healthy Michigan is open to Michiganders ages 19 to 64 who earn an income at or below 138% of the federal poverty level – $18,754 for an individual or $36,908 for a family of four.
The legislation passed with bipartisan support and prevents the Healthy Michigan program from being repealed based on operating costs and eliminates “unnecessary conditions and paperwork” for enrollees, according to a news release from Whitmer. The legislation removes the previous mandate that Healthy Michigan enrollees contribute 5% of their income for cost sharing requirements, removes a requirement that triggers the elimination of Healthy Michigan if the program’s net costs outweigh the net savings, and gets rid of the stipulation that the state health department seek certain waivers from the federal government in order to provide various services through Healthy Michigan.