State Senator Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton, introduced a bill to stop a state agency from spending more Michigan taxpayers dollars on advertising Michigan's expanded Medicaid program.

The Michigan Capital Confidential news site is reporting that Senate Bill 542 has been languishing in the Senate Health Policy Committee since last October.

The reason for the bill is not to try to hide the program, but the expansion of the program has met and surpassed all goals and there is no longer a need to use tax payers dollars to advertise the program.

In 2013 the state estimated that at most 400,000 Michigan citizens would enroll in the expanded program, over the coming years. Shortly after the expanded program started the enrollment number topped 600,000, once again government at it's finest.

Currently you as the taxpayer pony up approximately $1,000,000 a year to advertise what appears to be a very successful program that more than likely no longer needs to be advertised.

As State Senator Schuitmaker was quoted in the article stating:

“Why spend $2 million annually to promote a program that has already met and far exceeded the number of people that were expected to enroll in it?. We’ve seen nothing to indicate there are metrics showing that continued advertising would accomplish anything. At this point, there’s no reason to believe it is needed. I think it’s obvious that that funding could be better used for something else.”

So what do you think, do we need to continue to spend taxpayers dollars to advertise this program?

I believe that people who search out welfare will eventually end up in a state office which will have all the contacts and program's available to the person. If not they should at least know who they could point them to, wouldn't you think?

If someone is working for the state in a welfare office and can not point someone to other welfare programs if they qualify then maybe they should not be working for the state.

Let’s talk about this tomorrow (Monday) on The Live with Renk show, which airs Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, to let me know your thoughts at (269) 441-9595.

Or please feel free to start a discussion and write your thoughts in the comment section.

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