For Immediate Release - Following the passage of the landmark National Healthcare Reform bill, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent the State of Michigan from implementing the Healthcare Reform bill signed by President Obama.  The NAACP Michigan State Conference is appalled that State Attorney General Mike Cox would go against the will of the people of Michigan, their constituents, and try and prevent the State of Michigan from adding over a million uninsured Michigan men, women and children to the health insurance rolls while protecting every insured Michiganian from losing their healthcare coverage at the whim of greedy insurance companies maximizing their profit margins at a time that families need insurance coverage the most.

The President and Congress made history by signing the most extensive and comprehensive healthcare reform bill in the history of the United States into law.  Put simply, Healthcare Reform is a matter of life and death.  People are suffering and dying daily because of the current system and we need reform now. The U.S. Congress and the President of the United States responded with this historic new law. The tactics being taken by our State’s Attorney General is deplorable and will only result in the deaths of more Americans from the lack of healthcare. 

Under the new Healthcare Reform law, those who are pleased with their current insurance plan or doctor have the option of retaining it.  What does change under the new plan is an increase in protections provided to already insured Americans.  Specifically, the new healthcare proposal outlaws discrimination against Americans with pre-existing medical conditions and does not allow insurance companies to deny coverage to a person because he or she has gotten sick.  It reduces costs for people who currently have insurance and makes coverage more affordable for those who are uninsured. The plan also sets up a new competitive insurance market where small business owners and families are allowed to shop for the insurance plan that works best for them.

Moreover, this law will insure over 31 million Americans nationwide and will make coverage more affordable by providing a middle class tax cut for health care, thereby reducing premium costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who cannot afford coverage while reducing the federal deficit.

The way to achieve real healthcare reform is not to preempt federal law, nor use partisan political gamesmanship. This move by the Attorney General Cox will have an adverse effect on hard working Michiganians and will put our State further away from enacting comprehensive healthcare reform.  More than 880,000 African Americans nationwide died in the past decade due to the disparities in our health care system; having access to quality, affordable health care is not something that should be reserved for the wealthy, or the few. It should be for everyone – that’s not the case today, and will not be the case if this lawsuit is allowed to drag out.