Jennifer Granholm on Health Care Democratic Governor (MI)

Affordable health care universally accessible to everyone

$50M bailout of Detroit Medical Center during recession

"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.

Adopt national health reform legislation before the end of the year.

In a letter to congressional leadership, 22 governors are urging federal lawmakers to adopt national health reform legislation before the end of the year to provide families and businesses with much-needed security and stability.

`We commend you and your colleagues for provisions included in your bills that will help states,` the governors wrote. `Many of the provisions will allow states to achieve long term savings and help cover those who currently go without health coverage. We recognize that health reform is a shared responsibility and everyone, including state governments, needs to partner to reform our broken health care system.`

`Efforts at the federal level, like the recent and critical investments that support states` HIV and prevention initiatives, are beginning the work to lower health care costs. Our citizens and our states, however, will only achieve the health care security and stability they need if we succeed in working together to achieve health care reform.`