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State Senate GOP unveils statewide healthcare plan

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (WKAR Radio)

Republican state senators unveiled a plan Thursday to ensure medical care for poor people who do not have health coverage. The legislation would create a pool that would be funded by all the companies that sell insurance in Michigan, and by fees charged to doctors and hospitals. The MI-Health fund would cover people well below the poverty line.

GOP lawmakers estimate the plan would cover about half of the more than one million uninsured people in Michigan. State Senator Tom George is also a physician: "We're asking everyone to chip in to solve this problem. Blue Cross, the commercial companies, the HMOs, the third party administrators all have to chip in. The hospitals have to chip in, and my physician friends. So we're leaving none of them untouched. We're stepping on everyone's toes, just a little bit."

George says the plan also may provide an opportunity to receive more federal funding to match what the state collects for the MI-Health plan.

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