LANSING – There is still a year before Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm hopes to be able to provide health coverage for some 550,000 uninsured residents, but her State of the State address Wednesday left a laundry list of questions for those who might be providing the coverage and those who would have to approve any legislation to enact the program.

Sen. Tony Stamas (R-Midland), whose Senate Appropriations Community Health Subcommittee is planning a hearing on the proposal next week, said he expected a lot of questions from members.

“I think there’s a lot of the questions of the details,” he said. Among those: “How’s it going to commit resources we already have? What types of coverage are they thinking of providing?”

Stamas said he had not taken a position on the proposal yet because he did not have enough information.

Granholm reiterated Friday that the plan would not mean an increase in state spending, but would leverage additional federal funds.

“As everybody knows, we are low in drawing down federal dollars and this would allow us to offer flexibility in offering a health care plan that is low-cost for uninsured people,” she said.

Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema (R-Wyoming) had charged that states that have tried similar approaches have seen their plans “crash and burn” in the face of financial reality.

Granholm spokesperson Liz Boyd acknowledged that some of the older plans did so, but only because the states were not willing to sustain them. But she said several other states – all with Republican governors – have obtained federal waivers and are running successful programs, including one in Massachusetts covering those with incomes up to 300 percent of poverty and one in Wisconsin that covers those with incomes up to 200 percent of poverty.

Among the funding options being considered is the current spending on uninsured residents which the administration sees as an avenue to secure federal Medicaid matching funds, Boyd said.

Rick Murdock with the Michigan Association of Health Plans said the state needs to be sure the federal funds actually are enough to cover the costs of adding new people to the plans.

“We are struggling with the financing through the Medicaid program. We had no increase last year,” Mr. Murdock said. “If they’re using the Medicaid model as the funding model, that’s going to be a struggle because we’re struggling with that now.”

The benefits provided could also be an issue for the health plans, Murdock said. In addition to being sure that the premiums paid cover the costs of the new plan members, he said the HMOs were also concerned that the benefits package would match with what they are allowed – or required – to provide.

HMOs have certain minimum services they must cover under state law, and Mr. Murdock said the group would seek waiver of those services if the state’s plan does not include them so the HMOs would be able to participate.

Helen Stojic with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan said the state’s largest health insurer is waiting for the administration to release more details before even trying to formulate any questions or concerns.

“We certainly support the idea of providing more access to more uninsured,” Stojic said.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com