Healthy Michigan Plan Surpasses Total Enrollment Projection in Eight Months

LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder and the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) today announced that the Healthy Michigan Plan has surpassed its original two-year and total eligibility projection this week by reaching more than 477,000 enrollees.

On April 1, enrollment for the Healthy Michigan Plan launched to extend health care benefits to a half-million low-income residents. As of today, 481,863 Michigan residents have enrolled in the program.

“We launched the Healthy Michigan Plan because it was the right thing to do for the health of our residents and the strength of our economy,” Snyder said. “Today, nearly a half-million previously uninsured residents have access to the health resources they need to lead healthy, productive lives and to keep Michigan moving forward.”

One of the elements that make the Healthy Michigan Plan unique is its focus on encouraging beneficiaries to take steps to improve their health through healthy behaviors. Since its launch, the Healthy Michigan Plan has already resulted in more than 241,000 primary care visits, 74,000 preventive care visits, 22,900 mammograms, and 10,900 colonoscopies.  

“Enrolling more than 477,000 residents in the Healthy Michigan Plan, and seeing more than 315,000 primary and preventive care visits in the first eight months, shows that Michigan residents are stepping up to take preventative measures that will improve their long-term health and wellbeing,” said MDCH Director Nick Lyon. “As we look ahead, our focus will be on ensuring that beneficiaries not only have the necessary health resources they need, but also understand how to use them.”

As part of the ongoing effort to assess the goals and results of the Healthy Michigan Plan, MDCH recently commissioned the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation to complete a five-year study of the plan’s implementation. The study also satisfies a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services federal waiver requirement to commission an independent evaluation of the Healthy Michigan Plan.

On September 25, Snyder and MDCH announced that more than 400,000 Michigan residents enrolled in the program. Earlier in the year on July 10, Michigan surpassed the entire first-year enrollment goal by reaching 323,000.

The plan was signed into law by Snyder in September 2013 to emphasize personal responsibility while reducing uncompensated care that shifts costs onto taxpayers and businesses. Beneficiaries are required to share in the costs, and the plan has incentives for individuals to maintain or improve their health.

Health coverage under the Healthy Michigan Plan includes both federally and state mandated Essential Health Benefits such as ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, mental health and substance use disorder services. These benefits encompass behavioral health treatment, prescription drugs, rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices, laboratory services, preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management, pediatric services including oral and vision care, and other medically necessary services as needed.

For more information about the progress of the Healthy Michigan Plan or to enroll, visit www.healthymichiganplan.org/, a local Michigan Department of Human Services office, or call (855) 789-5610.

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