Bill Huizenga is facing further scrutiny for his key vote to rip away health care and raise costs for his constituents while giving tax breaks to billionaires.
The Gander highlighted how nearly 22% of Huizenga’s constituents depend on Medicaid and that at least 15,000 people in MI-04 “are at risk of losing coverage” thanks to Huizenga’s vote.
What’s more, Huizenga voted to raise Michiganders’ health care costs. At least 47,200 people across MI-04 who receive health care through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will “see their premiums increase by over $700 a year” on average due to Huizenga’s vote to end ACA tax credits.
Read more:
The Gander: ‘Big beautiful bill’ will end Medicaid for people in Ingham, Shiawassee, and Livingston counties this year. Here’s how many will lose it—and who’s responsible
- President Donald Trump’s Republican-backed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” was signed into law on the Fourth of July. It cuts taxes for billionaires and the wealthiest people in the US, and is projected to create a $1.1 billion annual budget shortfall for the state, with an estimated 700,000 Medicaid beneficiaries losing coverage across the Mitten.
- Local health officials warned that Medicaid cuts could overwhelm rural hospitals and disrupt care for seniors and low-income families. Despite these concerns, several Michigan Republicans, including Rep. Bill Huizenga, who represents Allegan, Van Buren, and parts of Calhoun, Kalamazoo, and Ottawa counties, voted to support the tax bill.
- Huizenga’s decision to vote yes on the bill—which he said “will make everyday life more affordable”—will result in thousands of his constituents losing access to health care through Medicaid, and soaring premiums, deductibles, and co-pays for other Michiganders who aren’t on Medicaid.
- In Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, which includes Allegan, Van Buren, northern Berrien and Kalamazoo counties, and portions of Ottawa and Calhoun counties, 167,400 residents are enrolled in Medicaid—nearly 22% of the district’s population. They’re from Holland, Hudsonville, Allegan, South Haven, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, and other nearby towns.
- They’ll also seriously affect older adults—who are less likely to be employed consistently and face more difficulties finding new work due to age discrimination—and family caregivers.
- Experts have found that many people who will lose Medicaid as a result of these latest cuts will do so because of administrative burdens, not ineligibility.
- In Rep. Huizenga’s district, at least 15,000 Medicaid enrollees are at risk of losing coverage altogether, resulting in an estimated 47 extra deaths per year, according to the Center for American Progress.
- Additionally, the “big beautiful bill” formally ends a variety of federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As a result, Michiganders who get their health care through the federal marketplace—like the 47,200 ACA adult residents in District 4—are set to see their premiums increase by over $700 a year, according to estimates released by state officials.
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