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Enrollees must be between 19 and 64 and earn less than $16,000 for single coverage or less than $33,000 for families of four, according to the state website.

“We haven’t personally done any analysis, but when our staff enrolls people, we hear some say that they haven’t had insurance before,” said Jen Hansen, health promotion supervisor for the District 10 Health Department, which oversees 19,000 Healthy Michigan enrollees in Crawford, Kalkaska, Wexford, Missaukee, Manistee, Mason, Lake, Newaygo, Oceana and Mecosta counties. “Although it’s all anecdotal, clients tell us that this relieves a lot of burdens for them.”

Others agree.

“A number of studies have looked at the success of the Healthy Michigan program, including studies on how it has improved individuals’ ability to get and keep a job and how many jobs it has helped create,” Emily Schwarzkopf, a policy analyst for the Michigan League for Public Policy based in Lansing, said in an email. “We are obviously very happy to see the results of this study, which once again shows that having insurance helps people maintain financial security. This study shows how successful the Healthy Michigan plan is and how important it is for us to maintain the program.”

Although the Healthy Michigan Plan faced some opposition when it was first introduced in 2013, several groups agree on its effectiveness.

“We believe that healthy individuals lead to healthy communities,” said Meghan Swain, executive director for the Michigan Association for Local Public Health. “Healthy communities lead to a healthy state, and if the general population is healthy, businesses save money, as well as insurance companies.”

The Healthy Michigan Plan provides access to essential health benefits, according to state officials. These benefits include access to ambulances, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity/newborn care, mental health, substance abuse treatment services, prescriptions, rehabilitativee services and devices, lab services, preventive services and chronic disease management and pediatric services.

“I recommend that anyone curious asks for it,” Moody said. “I didn’t think anyone could help me, I didn’t ask, I was just struggling along until it got too bad. I’d recommend it to someone who’s struggling along like I am.” Sep 21, 2018 – Manistee News

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