Special edition Ryan Report to discuss potential changes to Medicaid

NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLUC) - On Sunday, Don Ryan will sit down with a group of community leaders during a special roundtable edition of the Ryan Report.

This special showing aims to provide a better understanding of the federal spending package, often known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act and the potential changes it may have on Medicaid and those who rely on it.

The bill was signed into law by the president in July. While some benefit from the bill, others have expressed concerns about how it will impact certain programming.

Don sits down to provide a better understanding of how the legislation will impact Upper Michigan and how local leaders in healthcare plan to adapt.

“In the past, you know, there was a clearer picture of how those dollars were going to be allocated, and now that picture is not very clear at all,” said UPHS – Marquette & UPHS – Bell Market CEO, Tonya Darner. “So, working with [Melissa Holmquist, CEO of Upper Peninsula Health Plan] and her team, you know, it’s how do we continue to be able to provide care for the residents of the Upper Peninsula in the way that we’ve provided them in the past.”

UPHP provides coverage for Medicaid recipients across the U.P. Holmquist, who is a participating member of the roundtable, says there are just under 70,000 people with some form of Medicaid coverage in the U.P.

Holmquist says there will be several changes as a result of the bill. These include frequency of coverage renewal, different co-pays and community engagement requirements, and changes to how it’s funded.

“The [changes] are rolling out at different times over the course of the next several years, so really understanding how that’s going to impact individuals’ coverage and what they need to do in order to maintain coverage is critically important,” Holmquist said. “We need to make sure that anyone who is eligible for any of the Medicaid programs is able to maintain their coverage.”

Community leaders in areas outside of healthcare discuss the need for a quality hospital and healthcare system from an outside perspective.

Marquette City Manager Karen Kovacs says the hospital is one of the city’s largest employers, and it accounts for 15% of the city’s taxable value.

“Having that in our community is something that brings a lot of people here, it allows us to be here, but making sure we have that access and that funding to keep the level that we have is really important,” Kovacs said.

Christopher Germain, the CEO of Lake Superior Community Partnership, emphasizes the importance of a robust healthcare system from an employee recruitment perspective.

“Businesses, as they try to recruit from outside, they’ll recruit somebody, they’ll accept a job, and they’ll start to search, you know, for housing or other things, but healthcare comes up a lot,” Germain said. “Where they have a specialist downstate or in Wisconsin or wherever they’re coming from. We might not have that up here yet, and so having that healthy healthcare system is really vital to that business attraction piece of it, but also that talent attraction piece of it.”

The special edition of the Ryan Report will air on Sunday, Sept. 28, at 7:30 a.m. EST.

After that, it will be available to stream on UpperMichiganSource.com and TV6+.

Special edition Ryan Report to discuss potential changes to Medicaid

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