Michigan’s ranks of the uninsured declined last year and are likely to decline again, according to experts and data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Michiganians without health insurance fell to 1.07 million or 11 percent in 2013 from 1.11 million or 11.4 percent in 2012, according to a sample of residents surveyed by the Census Bureau. The state tied Ohio for the 15th lowest uninsured rate in the country.
It was far below the national rate of 14.5 percent in 2013.
The state should experience a further decline in the uninsured because 386,000 adults signed up for Michigan’s version of the expansion of the federal Medicaid health care plan for low-income residents, a Michigan League Public Policy official said Tuesday.
“We will see real progress in the years ahead, thanks to Gov. Snyder and the state lawmakers who supported the Healthy Michigan Plan so more in Michigan can get affordable health care,” said Gilda Jacobs, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy. “This is good not only for the people getting the coverage they need, it’s also good for our state’s businesses, communities, and economy.”
The expansion was opposed by some Republicans who argued the federal government may start withdrawing federal support for Medicaid expansion because of its expense. Uncle Sam pays all of expansion costs for the first three years and 90 percent from then until 2022.
But GOP opponents noted the federal government in many instances has reduced aid for other programs, forcing states to pick up the tab.
Date: September 16, 2014