Lansing — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a letter Monday she’ll ask state and federal lawmakers to take action to ensure residents continue to have access to preventive health care “without having to worry about whether they can afford it.”
Whitmer’s letter to Anita Fox, director of the state’s department of insurance and financial services, came four days after a federal judge in Texas ruled that elements of the federal Affordable Care Act, which required insurance companies to cover preventive care without out-of-pocket charges for enrollees, were improper.
The Texas order is expected to spur a lengthy court fight.
In her letter Monday, Whitmer said the decision by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor “dramatically affects the healthcare choices of millions of people across the country, including right here in Michigan.” It “jeopardizes access to basic services like screening for early detection of colon and skin cancer, high blood pressure and hepatitis,” the Democratic governor added.
“The time to act is now,” Whitmer said in the letter. “No person in Michigan should have to choose between paying their bills and protecting their health.”
The requirements of the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” ensured the vast majority of private health plans had to cover a range of preventive services without imposing deductibles or copays for them, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.
Plaintiffs in the Texas case had argued that the preventive care requirements, including coverage of a medicine to prevent HIV, violated their religious beliefs.
On Thursday, O’Connor ruled specific preventive care standards based on recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force after March 23, 2010, under the Affordable Care Act were unlawful.
President Joe Biden’s administration plans to appeal the decision.
The Texas ruling didn’t overturn the Affordable Care Act coverage policy for other preventive care services, including for vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and women’s health services recommended by the Health Resources and Services Administration, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Whitmer directed Fox on Monday to issue guidance about which preventive care services are affected by the federal court’s order. The governor also asked Fox to develop recommendations for other ways the state “can take action to ensure every Michigander continues to receive preventive healthcare now and in the future.”
The state’s insurance department will work to “ensure that Michigan families continue to have affordable coverage for these lifesaving healthcare services,” Fox said in a statement.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
