Michigan doctors, nurses, students back healthcare ballot proposal

Organizations representing primary care and family physicians, a statewide nurses union and medical students are backing a bill that would make affordable and comprehensive healthcare coverage a constitutional right in Michigan. Uninsured patients are going without care and overwhelming emergency rooms, the groups said at a series of news conferences. If approved by voters, the measure would require the Legislature to "pass a plan that, through public or private measures, controls healthcare costs and provides for medically necessary preventive, primary, acute and chronic healthcare needs.