Representatives from the nonprofit Community Action of South Central Michigan delivered petition signatures to the Kalamazoo city clerk Wednesday, in hopes of getting a Health Action Plan on the November ballot.
Community Action spokesperson Azlan Ibrahim said the plan would include a citizens' advisory committee to recommend and advise the city commission on local healthcare solutions.
“Should the ballot proposal get onto the November ballot, the voters of Kalamazoo will address healthcare at the local level and act collaboratively with all stakeholders at the table to demand solutions that can bring down healthcare costs," Ibrahim said.
Last July, President Trump signed the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," often referred to as "BBB," into law. The bill included significant funding cuts and policy changes to Medicaid and Medicare, the Affordable Care Act marketplace and other programs.
According to organizations like the American Medical Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, these changes have led to rising healthcare costs across the country, fewer Medicare, Medicaid and ACA enrollees, and financial pressure on hospitals.
"Our families demand a plan," Ibrahim said. "Like families across Michigan, Kalamazoo residents are struggling with higher costs and making tough choices. Choices like whether to spend their money on groceries or go see a doctor."
U.S. House 4th District Republican Representative Bill Huizenga, who represents most of the Kalamazoo County, voted in favor of the BBB.
Dr. Isaac Johnson is an emergency medicine physician and works at Bronson and Beacon hospitals in Kalamazoo. He said he's seen rising costs firsthand, and visited Huizenga's office after the BBB was passed to share what he felt were the negative impacts of the bill.
“It's not a plan that is actually solving the problem. It's a plan that they think is good enough to keep us at bay to keep us from doing things like this, and taking things into our own hands at the community level. But I've seen enough," Johnson said.
Johnson said Huizenga's office wasn't receptive, and he believes a Health Action Plan that includes a citizen advisory council would be a good way to come up with local solutions that can counteract the effects of federal policy changes and make citizens' voices heard.
If put on the ballot and passed, the citizens’ advisory group would recommend solutions to the city. Johnson said those could include things like hiring more local healthcare navigators, which are people that help fill out insurance forms and understand benefits.
"We could just have individuals helping people in our community to navigate this process," Johnson said. "Just increasing the education and making it more accessible for people here — that will create less lapses in care, and it will make things run smoother throughout everything. There will be less denials, less forms that were not completed correctly or were completed too late, things like that."
According to advocacy group Protect Our Care, Medicare and other insurance enrollments dropped significantly following the passage of the BBB. Johnson said other solutions could include encouraging greater collaboration between local healthcare systems and analyzing medical debt.
Chokwe Pickford, executive director of nonprofit partner Kalamazoo Forward, said the initiative would also allow Kalamazoo to bring local solutions to the state and federal level rather than waiting for "higher-up" changes to occur.
“We don't have to wait for Washington, we don't have to wait for Lansing. We can do it right here in our local communities and go to the federal and state government and say: 'This is what will work best for us',” Pickford said.
Ibrahim said Community Action turned in 5,779 signatures for the ballot proposal, which is more than twice the required amount of 2700 signatures.
