A bill to set up a healthcare exchange in Michigan under the Affordable Care Act has cleared the state House.
The state would form a partnership with the federal government to create an online marketplace people could use to buy health insurance.
The bill passed easily with bi-partisan support. But many Republicans are not on board.
Representative Bob Genetski says he does not trust the federal government to respect Michigan’s interests.
“The feds, you ask them what the Affordable Care Act will look like when it’s in place, you ask how things might work under these conditions, those conditions, and they just can’t answer the questions. They haven’t interpreted their own laws yet. And I think that’s a dangerous situation to appropriate money, without having everything explained to us first.”
Republican leaders in the House support the legislation. They say the alternative is a federal healthcare exchange with no state control.
The bill now goes to the state Senate.
