KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners has voted in favor of approving a “Medicare for All” proclamation.
During a virtual meeting Tuesday night, Commissioners had their final discussion on the proclamation, which had previously been introduced earlier this month.
Before the reading, several citizens had called in to voice their support for the measure, while also addressing areas of concern voiced by some Commissioners at the previous meeting.
“As much money as we spend on health care, we’re at the bottom,” one citizen said. “We’re supposed to be this first-world country, yet we can’t even take care of our own people.”
The measure had been introduced by Commissioners Stephanie Moore and Michael Quinn.
“Although here at local government, we’re not the ones to administer this Medicare for All, but we definitely could weigh in using our ability through intergovernmental communication,” Commissioner Moore said. “We want to make sure that every resident in our community has access to health care and health coverage so they can have a better advantage of having great health outcomes. This is in line with us wanting to have the extraordinary governance so that we are delivering equity across the board for our residents.”
Moore also pointed out the large community support as an indicator of County resident desires, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons for approving the proclamation.
Commissioner John Gisler had said that he wouldn’t vote for the measure based on a number of reasons, although he admitted that health care could be improved and less costly. One reason he cited is that Medicare for All is an issue in Washington, and Commissioner work could be used locally for other issues.
“This is not a local issue, this decision is going to be made in Washington,” Gisler said. “For us to spend the time on these Washington-based issues beating our gums locally I think is time wasted.”
He also cited reasons of the proclamation itself being premature with legislation in Washington considered, as well as the prospect of a loss of insurance to citizens with pre-existing coverage.
Moore responded with similar reasoning as her opening statement on the measure, citing the public support in favor of approval.
“Any time we have residents that come before us with issues that they greatly care about, and we have an opportunity to do an action, act, support or help propel that work forward, for me, it’s important to be able to help do that work,” Moore said. “We are the bridge between local government and the community. Taking that time to raise the issues and concerns of our residents, I think is extremely important.”
The proclamation ended up getting passed in a 9-2 vote, with Commissioners John Gisler and Roger Tunier casting the dissenting votes.
