History

The Michigan Health Insurance Access Advisory Council (MHIAC) was created to develop realistic strategies to extend health insurance to all Michigan residents. MHIAC is the successor council to the Michigan State Planning Project for the Uninsured Advisory Council, which was a Michigan Department of Community Health initiative funded by a federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant.

Purpose

Incorporated in December 2006, MHIAC is a nonprofit organization with an independent, non-partisan approach. Its mission is to identify and implement strategies to ensure all Michigan residents have access to affordable health insurance coverage. MHIAC is committed to improving the health status of Michigan residents, controlling health care costs for individuals, employers and the state, and maximizing the efficiency of health care expenditures.

What Makes MHIAC Unique

MHIAC is different from other organizations that are attempting to address the issue of the uninsured because it includes representation from a diverse range of community and business stakeholders who are committed to working collaboratively on issues of the uninsured so all Michigan residents can access coverage.

MHIAC held its first board meeting in January 2007. Its board membership includes small and large businesses, consumer groups, faith-based organizations, health care providers (representing health care professionals and facilities), insurers and labor unions.

Membership in MHIAC

• Membership is open to individuals and organizations that support and seek to further the goals of MHIAC. However, MHIAC's Board and membership are limited to those stakeholders that are not seeking, seated in or employed by public office. The nonpartisan makeup of MHIAC is critical to advancing collaborative health insurance coverage reform and building support for solutions among all political parties. The perception of anything otherwise impedes that goal.
• MHIAC holds regular general membership meetings each year. At these meetings, members are able to voice their views about current initiatives and help shape MHIAC policy recommendations.
• Members are able to serve on committees through which much of the day-to-day work is addressed. Their findings and recommendations are then presented to the MHIAC Board of Directors for formal action.
• The MHIAC nominating committee will look to membership in the Council as a major source for identifying new members of the Board of Directors.

What MHIAC is Doing Today

One of MHIAC's initial goals is to educate the public and key stakeholders about not only the plight of more than 1 million uninsured residents, but also the negative impact the uninsured segment of the population has on businesses that provide health insurance, individuals who are insured, health care providers, taxpayers, the economy and the future of Michigan.

MHIAC also seeks to assist the public in understanding the economics of health care in Michigan. It is MHIAC's aim that these efforts will lead to the development of a proposal to provide health insurance to all Michigan residents. Once MHIAC's recommendations are developed, it will use collective leadership and influence to move ideas forward among the general public and government policy makers.

For more information, please contact MHIAC at mihiac@sbcglobal.net.