We closed the recent 2023 Michigan State of Reform Health Policy Conference with a keynote address from Marianne Udow-Phillips, the former director of the Center for Health Research and Transformation, and currently a faculty member at the University of Michigan Center for Health and Research.
Capping the event with a timely focus on federal policy, Udow-Phillips summarized the development of the Medicaid program over the last century, discussed the need to change the prevailing American ideology that healthcare isn’t a right and Medicaid is a program of dependency, and provided her thoughts on how growing partisanship might impact the Medicaid program moving forward.
“To the extent that you care about Medicaid policy … regardless of what your views are, it is incumbent upon you to engage in the political process, to engage with your voice in what you believe. Because these issues are going to be decided by very vocal people who feel very strongly about it. And it’s very important for those who are passionate and who understand Medicaid to speak as well.”