Michigan Governor Says Her State Poster Child For State Insurance Pools After Talks With Obama
In an interview with the public radio show The Takeaway, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm says her state could be the example of how to provide a large insurance pool to cover the uninsured.
"'If you think about it, we're the poster child for this now. The reason why our economy is in such a difficult position is because of the auto industry,'" Granholm told The Takeaway after meeting with President Obama. The auto industry in Detroit suffered because much of the work was going to Ontario, Canada, where the government provides health care, she said. "'We have a saying that the auto companies are really health care companies who make cars to pay for it. We don't want to see other companies or other states go through what Michigan is going through.'"
"'So if you're going to compete on a global playing field, you have to make sure that our job providers get some relief for this and not put the burden on the back of business. That's one reason why we are in this fix,'" she said. Granhom added that she wanted to make sure Obama was committed to not burdening states with most of the cost of health reform. In Michigan, she said, the state has pooled resources to drive the cost down for prescription drugs as well as the cost of insurance for state employees and seniors (Hockenberry and Loleng, 6/25).