Senator Patrick Colbeck offers patient-centered solution in place of Medicaid Expansion

LANSING, Mich. – Today Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, introduced the first of two bills to enact a patient-centered healthcare plan to provide a free market alternative that expands access to quality care without expanding government.

SB 459 provides the regulatory infrastructure that would enable a low cost, high quality care, free market environment within the confines of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The second bill, which will be introduced shortly, would convert current Medicaid enrollees to low cost, high quality Qualified Health Plans featuring Direct Primary Care Services and High Deductible Health Plans wrapped within a Health Savings Account. The net impact of both of these bills will be to lower healthcare costs for everyone in our state while promoting better quality of care.

Colbeck will discuss the legislation with the Senate workgroup on Medicaid expansion on Thursday, July 18. Colbeck’s patient-centered solution would be enacted in place of expanding government provided healthcare.

“We need to stop talking about expanding a government program that doesn’t work and start talking about ways to expand affordable care to all of our citizens,” Colbeck said. “The plan that I’m putting forth would allow us to capitalize on our free market system and provide better quality, less expensive healthcare to Michigan’s residents while boosting our economy.

“We can use this as an opportunity to put in place a free market based system that will not only accomplish the stated objectives of Obamacare but will also establish Michigan as a destination state for employers seeking quality, affordable healthcare for their employees. If we can provide quality services at a greatly reduced cost, we can draw patients from other states and countries that are looking for better access to quality care while creating new healthcare jobs in Michigan. Wouldn’t it be nice to be expanding our medical centers in Detroit due to out of town visitors at a faster rate than we are expanding our casinos?” Colbeck concluded.