A Governor`s Story, by Jennifer Granholm: on Health Care


Barack Obama: 2008: must be national system; not state-level pilots

I asked Senator Obama whether, if he became president, he would grant Michigan permission to pilot a health care program that would provide access to millions of our citizens. I was struck by his forceful response: He had no intention of doing any more state-level health care pilots. He planned to roll out a national system similar to the one in Massachusetts, and he'd move on it during his 1st year in office.
Source: A Governor's Story, by Jennifer Granholm, p.161 Oct 1, 2005

Jennifer Granholm: $50M bailout of Detroit Medical Center during recession

The Detroit Medical Center was the biggest healthcare system in the state. It consisted of nine "safety net" hospitals serving many of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens. It was no secret that the DMC's budget relied on Medicare reimbursements that failed to cover costs, meaning that the DMC provided enormous amounts of absolutely vital but uncompensated care.

"How much do they need to survive?" I asked. $50 million, was the answer.

Republican legislators, mostly from the suburbs, peddled Detroit-bashing racial and ethnic stereotypes: Why, they asked, should the "good citizens" of Michigan bail out "THEIR hospital system"--an inner-city network that served mainly minority-group members?

I knew it would be political and financial idiocy to bail out the DMC without insisting on significant reforms. The DMC board did as it promised. And in 2004, the first year after the government bailout and restructuring, DMC reported a multi-million dollar surplus.

Source: A Governor's Story, by Jennifer Granholm, p. 26-35 Oct 1, 2005

  • The above quotations are from A Governor`s Story
    The Fight for Jobs and America's Economic Future,
    by Jennifer Granholm    .
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Page last updated: Jun 11, 2014