Healthcare Coalition Forms as Ballot Drive Ends

New citizens group aims to hold legislators’ feet to fire

Citizen groups today launched a new healthcare action coalition that aims to continue the fight to make healthcare affordable and available to all Michigan families, and fix a broken system. The coalition was announced after the Healthcare Ballot for Michigan campaign was officially ended.

“The fight for affordable, quality healthcare is far from over even though the ballot campaign has ended,” said John Freeman, executive director of Healthcare Ballot for Michigan. “This fight is too important. Too many people are one pink slip away from losing their healthcare, too many people don’t have healthcare and too many businesses are going bankrupt because of the outrageously high cost of healthcare. This new coalition will hold Lansing’s feet to the fire and stand up for Michigan families that have been hit hard by our healthcare crisis.”

The campaign gathered more than 133,000 signatures, many collected by legions of volunteers who are now core members of the continuing effort to expand healthcare access and affordability in Michigan.

Groups that joined the new Healthcare for Michigan effort include Michigan Universal Health Care Access Network , Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, SEIU Healthcare Michigan, Michigan Citizen Action, , Michigan Nurses Association, National Physicians Association, Michigan Osteopathic Association, Gamaliel of Michigan, and many other unions, faith-based groups and advocacy organizations.

Freeman said: “Despite the special interests and the competition for money during a presidential election year, we are not giving up our work to fix Michigan’s broken healthcare system. We have 133,000 voices, a diverse coalition of groups and a volunteer network that is second to none. The ballot campaign will be a vehicle to pressure the Legislature to act to fix healthcare. We will be working collaboratively to tackle this spiraling healthcare crisis.”