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Residents and providers urge commissioners to renew Genesee Health Plan millage; concerns raised about surveillance cameras
Summary
Multiple residents, clinicians and service providers urged the board to place the Genesee Health Plan millage renewal on the ballot and warned that local safety-net clinics cannot absorb enrollees if funding lapses; a public commenter also warned against automated license-plate cameras and broad data sharing.
Public comment at the June 17 Genesee County Board meeting focused heavily on health funding and privacy. Several speakers, including clinicians, nonprofit leaders and residents, asked commissioners to support renewal of the Genesee Health Plan (GHP) millage and warned that cuts would strain county safety-net services.
Dr. Brenda Fortunate, a family physician and vice president of the Genesee County Free Medical Clinic, told the board the county’s free-clinic network lacks capacity to take on GHP enrollees if the millage lapses. She cited the clinic’s caseload and visit volumes (903 current patients, roughly 25% of GHP enrollment; approximately 2,400 unique patient visits and 6,400 in-house pharmacy visits last fiscal year) and asked commissioners to place a millage renewal on the November ballot.
Brooke Gall, executive director of the Family Service Agency of Mid-Michigan, and Jacquondray Brown, a Flint resident, echoed those concerns and said reductions would hurt guardianship programs and access to care; Brown criticized what she described as proposals to condition care on lifestyle changes and urged commissioners to honor the 2018 voter decision that approved the millage.
Separately, Dr. Susan Hendricks warned against use of Flock automated license-plate readers, alleging such systems can record detailed travel patterns and have been used to share data with federal agencies in other jurisdictions; she urged stricter data-retention limits and warrant safeguards for queries. The county did not take immediate action on Flock in this meeting.
The board did not vote on a millage placement during the meeting; a separate unfinished-business item about the health millage and ballot timing was discussed later and failed to pass in its proposed form.
Next steps: Several commissioners asked staff for additional data and follow-up reports; placement on a ballot remains unresolved pending further administrative and procedural steps.
