LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Mark Huizenga said he opposes adding duplicative measures after the Michigan Senate passed legislation on Tuesday to enshrine parts of the federal Affordable Care Act into Michigan law.
“The protections in these bills are already codified in federal law,” said Huizenga, R-Walker, who serves on the committee. “While I support commonsense health care protections — like stopping companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions — I’m concerned that inconsistencies at the state level will create conflicts that would affect patient care, potentially open the state up to action from federal regulators and provide no additional benefit for enrollees.
“I came here to solve problems — like addressing high costs for health care and insurance. I believe we can work in a bipartisan manner to achieve those goals.”
Huizenga warned against future compliance issues in the federal law changes.
“If the president or Congress decides to amend or change various provisions of the ACA, these bills have the potential to be in conflict with those decisions and would, for a time, have the state be out of compliance with federal law,” Huizenga said.
House Bills 4619-4623 would add some federal Affordable Care Act provisions into Michigan law.
The bills now head back to the House of Representatives.
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