By WKTV Staff
The State of Michigan, like most governmental agencies, puts out press releases to media sources on a wide-range of issues almost daily. Some are important for the public to know; some are just routine governmental business. Some make the news and some do not.
We at WKTV have decided that in these times of COVID-19, of often-filtered news, we’d let the state departments say what they want to say to the pubic a little more directly. Following are links to State of Michigan releases from April 8 — with a little emphasis given by our staff on what we found interesting.
Michigan joins other state in urging feds to open ACA marketplace
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently joined 20 other attorneys general in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to approve a special enrollment period on the official Affordable Care Act health care marketplace website during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
According to an April 8 statement from Nessel’s office, the attorneys general argue that the federal government is making a “shortsighted decision” to not provide the special enrollment period.
“At a time when so many Americans are facing uncertainty in every direction they turn, ensuring they have the opportunity to obtain health care coverage via a special enrollment period on healthcare.gov should be a major priority for the federal government,” Nessel said in supplied material. “Regardless of how this administration feels about the current structure of the Affordable Care Act, it is law and it provides health care services that millions of people need right now across this nation. The federal government should want to ensure all who live in this country have access to the care they need to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
Michigan unemployment office: If you can file online, please do so
With huge numbers of workers applying for unemployment benefits, the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) is adding staff and hours, and has nearly quadrupled staffing levels over the last several weeks. But like staying at home flattens the peak curve for medical providers, applying online takes strain off the unemployment system, according to an April 8 UIA statement.
“The UIA continues to provide emergency financial assistance during this unprecedented increase in unemployment claims,” Jeff Donofrio, director of the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, said in supplied material. “We continue to ramp up our services to make sure every eligible Michigander receives their benefits as quickly as possible and we’re asking workers to please reserve the phone lines for those who cannot go online or are having trouble with their account.”
The best way to file a claim, according to the UIA statement, is online at Michigan.gov/UIA, where the process takes on average 20-25 minutes.
Other April 8 releases, listed by headlines and with links, include:
Detroit police, Wayne County sheriff commended for ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ enforcement
How state is supporting guardsmen who are supporting the community
