Governor Granholm believes quality health care in Michigan must be affordable and accessible for all. The quality of a state's health care system doesn't just determine who sees the doctor and how often - it has a major impact on business investment and job creation. Employers want to locate in a state that is serious about controlling health care costs, including the costs we all pay today to provide health care to the uninsured.

Governor Granholm expanded affordable health care and prescription drug coverage to more than 300,000 people in her first term, while preventing cuts that would have left Michigan's most vulnerable citizens without health care coverage. The Governor is fighting to make affordable health care universally available in Michigan for the first time. Her Michigan First Health Care Plan will make health care in Michigan affordable and accessible for all citizens by subsidizing care for those who can least afford it, creating affordable insurance products for individuals, and creating incentives for more businesses to offer insurance to their employees.

Governor Granholm has advanced a series of innovative polices to make health care more accessible and affordable for everyone by:

• Forming the first multi-state compact to purchase prescription drugs in bulk, driving down the cost of medicines used to treat Medicaid recipients
• Creating a prescription discount card, the MiRx Card, to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for those without prescription drug coverage
• Expanding access to primary health care in Michigan through rural health initiatives and by increasing the number of Federal Qualified Health Centers
• Helping to secure $50 million in critical state support for the Detroit Medical Center that allowed it to maintain health care coverage for the tens of thousands of citizens who depend on this vital link in Michigan's health care system
  

Under Governor Granholm's leadership, Michigan will continue to work to make health care accessible and affordable for all. That's good news for Michigan citizens and for anyone who wants to grow a business in Michigan.