Health care proposals fail in Saginaw, Bay counties

MID-MICHIGAN (WJRT) -- (11/05/08)--Two proposals to fund programs designed to help low-income people afford basic health care failed Tuesday night.

Voters turned down millages for both the Saginaw and Bay Health plans.

In Bay County, the proposal was defeated by almost 5,000 votes, with 54 percent of voters voting no.

In Saginaw County, 55-percent of voters were against it. That was a margin of more than 8,000 votes.

The folks with both the Saginaw and Bay Health plans say major cuts are in store.

In Bay County it's expected the approximately 2,000 people that are helped now will go down to just 850.

In Saginaw County, 2,500 fewer people will be helped instead of the current 4,500.

In Saginaw, the health care millage would have meant an extra $50 a year for a person with a home valued at $100,000.

In Bay County, a homeowner there with the same house value would have paid an extra $33.50 a year.

The Saginaw and Bay Health plans are not insurance; instead, they are plans that help low-income people afford basic health services.

Both of these plans have been around for a few years, but before, local tax dollars weren't used to fund the programs.

Much of the funding came from federal and state dollars.

And while health plan representatives don't know all the reasons why the millages failed, they do suspect our economy in crisis played a big role.

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vote 2008, rebecca trylch

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