DETROIT (AP) - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed is proposing a single-payer health care system to provide medical insurance to every Michigan resident until age 65.
He calls it “Michicare.”
El-Sayed says Michigan’s health insurance system is “broken” and nearly 600,000 people lack coverage while costs spiral out of control. He says his plan would save an average family almost $5,000 a year and relieve businesses from having to provide health insurance unless they want to offer supplemental coverage.
He proposes funding the plan through a new tax on a quarter of Michigan’s businesses and raising the state’s flat 4.25 percent personal income tax to between 5 percent and 8 percent depending on one’s income.
El-Sayed, one of three Democrats running, unveiled his proposal Wednesday at a news conference in Detroit.
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