Senator Kahn offered the following resolution:

            Senate Resolution No. 110.

            A resolution to urge the Department of Community Health to authorize the ProCare Health Plan of Michigan to insure Medicaid-eligible individuals in Macomb and Oakland Counties.

            Whereas, The United Nations estimates 2.2 million Iraqis have fled their homeland since the war in Iraq started in 2003. The international community continues to help Iraqi refugees relocate and return to self-sufficiency in lands foreign to them. The United States already has welcomed thousands of Iraqi refugees and plans to provide safe haven to at least 25,000 more; and

            Whereas, Michigan is home to relatives of a great many Iraqi refugees, making the state a likely destination for their settlement. Iraqi refugees are expected to inhabit Macomb and Oakland Counties in particular. Indeed, of the 60,000 Chaldeans now in Macomb County, 16,000 immigrated to the county within the last two years, according to the Chaldean-American Chamber of Commerce and Chaldean Federation of America. Immigrating Iraqis will need government help upon settling in the United States, including reliable health care and health insurance; and

            Whereas, ProCare Health Plan of Michigan enjoys a strong relationship with the Chaldean-American community in metropolitan Detroit. Chaldean organizations in Detroit want ProCare Health Plan to insure Medicaid-eligible refugees in Macomb and Oakland Counties. ProCare Health Plan has an expansive physician network, including the prestigious 800-member Wayne State University Physician Group, with health care professionals who speak the native Chaldean and Arabic languages of Iraqi refugees. Communication is vitally important in the delivery of high-quality health care; and

            Whereas, ProCare Health is one of 14 Medicaid Health Maintenance Organizations in the state and is endorsed by the Utilization Review Accreditation Committee. The Michigan Department of Community Health has only authorized ProCare Health Plan to serve Medicaid-eligible individuals in Wayne County, while competing HMOs are authorized to provide health care in at least three counties. ProCare Health Plan should be permitted to expand to provide health care in Macomb and Oakland Counties, which would grow their business enterprise and provide health care to a budding population of Iraqi immigrants from an organization familiar to the Chaldean community; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate, That we urge the Department of Community Health to authorize the ProCare Health Plan of Michigan to insure Medicaid-eligible individuals in Macomb and Oakland Counties; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor and the director of the Department of Community Health.