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The Detroit News
May 11, 2007
Health care ballot initiative in works
Group wants voters to OK amendment that would force lawmakers to reform state's system.
Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News
A grassroots group is in the early stages of a ballot initiative that would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment requiring the Legislature to reform the state's health care system.
The initiative, planned for November 2008, would require lawmakers to find a way to cover the state's 1.5 million uninsured residents, make health care plans more efficient and control the rapid growth of health care costs.
"We wouldn't be telling the Legislature what to do, we would be telling them to act," said John Freeman, director of America Votes Michigan, who previously led the effort to increase the state's minimum wage. "This is the kind of issue that cuts across every single constituent. We need health care reform in this state."
Spearheaded by the Michigan Universal Health Care Access Network, the initiative was conceived after a Massachusetts grassroots group used a similar strategy. The proposed Massachusetts ballot measure had such wide support that the governor and lawmakers enacted legislation reforming the state's health care system, Freeman said.
So far, Michigan strategists have come up with ballot language, said Gary Benjamin, a board member of the Michigan Universal Health Care Access Network. The next step is to raise funds to conduct public opinion surveys and hire staff to collect the 400,000 signatures necessary to get the measure on the November 2008 ballot. Signature collection may begin in January.
The measure is endorsed by several faith-based groups, labor and civil rights organizations, but some health leaders are worried the initiative might interfere with Gov. Jennifer Granholm's effort to provide health care to the uninsured, Benjamin said. But Granholm's effort -- which is seeking federal approval to use Medicaid dollars differently -- would only cover half of the state's uninsured population.
Gongwer Michigan Report May 11, 2007
GROUP SEEKING VOTER SUPPORT FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM
Voters could be asked in November to ask the Legislature to do something about healthcare in the state. What those reforms might be would be up to the Legislature.
The proposed initiative follows the pattern used in Massachusetts that led the governor and Legislature there to adopt a universal healthcare program, said John Freeman with the Michigan Universal Health Care Access Network, which is leading the effort.
"It didn't even get on the ballot before the Legislature acted," Mr. Freeman said of Massachusetts.
There are already groups working to develop reform plans. Mr. Freeman said his group's goal was to build public support for the idea that something needs to be done. "We think it high time that we need to get the conversation going in Michigan," he said.
The conversation right now is about getting the financial and volunteer backing to put an issue on the ballot, Mr. Freeman said. The group has been talking with other organizations about funding, and he said if the funding is there, the volunteer support will be as well. "We would also have a very strong volunteer component," he said. "There are a number of unions and church-based organizations that are very interested in helping."
The plan currently is to begin circulating petitions in January, he said. If the measure is adopted, it would not have any set deadlines in it, but Mr. Freeman said he would expect legislative action in 2009.
And, while the Network is not proposing any particular plan for reform, Mr. Freeman said any final reform plan would have to meet three key requirements: it would have to provide coverage for all of the 1 million uninsured in the state, it would have to force the healthcare system to become more efficient and it would have to hold down increases in health insurance rates.
"It's only going to get worse," Mr. Freeman said. "In order for Americans to remain competitive we've got to address the healthcare problem."