LANSING – The Department of Health and Human Services has notified the first group of people that they may be switched from Healthy Michigan to the MI Marketplace Option if they do not get a health assessment and adopt a healthy behavior.

In February, the department sent letters to 13,550 Healthy Michigan enrollees that they would be switched to the marketplace option in June, a spokesperson for the department said.

That first group of letters to go out was to a considerably larger group than would normally receive such letters, said Lynn Sutffin. The department will send out some 1,800 letters this month and expects that would be the typical number sent from now on.

The letters go to persons who have been enrolled in Healthy Michigan for at least 12 months.

Since Healthy Michigan has been in operation for four years beginning in April, it is required by state statute to notify individuals they will be moved to a different health insurance system unless they show they are engaging in healthy behaviors.

When the Medicaid expansion plan was created in 2013, a major part of the proposal was to encourage greater proactive behavior by recipients to improve their own health.

If a person has not seen a doctor for a health risk assessment and then agreed to engage in a healthy behavior, he or she can be required to move from Healthy Michigan to the new marketplace option.

The letter sent the recipients notifies them they have a deadline to meet that requirement.