5 Michigan cities voted to create ‘health action’ boards. Now what?

Detailed summary

Amid growing concerns over medical costs, voters in five Michigan cities last week approved measures to create new citizen-led boards that will recommend ways to lower costs and…

Amid growing concerns over medical costs, voters in five Michigan cities last week approved measures to create new citizen-led boards that will recommend ways to lower costs and improve healthcare policies.

How the boards will function is not clear, nor is the source of funding for the successful ballot campaigns. Liberal “dark money” groups spent nearly $3 million on the initiatives, which were spread across two toss-up congressional districts represented by Republicans who lost their reelection bids.

But with healthcare costs top of mind for many, voters agreed to establish “citizens’ advisory health action” committees by wide margins in Benton Harbor ( 80% approval ), Lansing ( 66% approval ), East Lansing ( 69% approval ), Kalamazoo ( 69% approval ) and Portage ( 55% approval ).

Now, it’s up to local governments in those cities to set up the boards, prompting fears of additional costs and uncertain outcomes.

“If the voters want it, then we’ll set up a committee and we’ll do it,” Lansing Mayor Andy Schor told Bridge Michigan ahead of the election, expressing ambivalence and acknowledging the proposals made a political point.

The cities will be limited in how much they can impact a sprawling national healthcare system with mind-numbing complexities, often opaque financing and Medicaid eligibility changes that are expected to reduce coverage and cost providers millions of dollars.

But the new committees will be able to advise officials whose policies could support local health providers in ways that drive down costs, said Ryan Cohn, a spokesperson for City Action Michigan, the nonprofit driving the effort.

“Voters sent a clear message,” said Cohn, who works for a Florida-based public relations firm, Sachs Media. “They want action on healthcare costs, and they’re done waiting for Congress to deliver it.”

A late-October poll of Michigan voters showed high costs were a top concern, with health insurance or medical costs the primary driver.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Toronto Star. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.