Mqt. Co. Board talks FEMA assistance, Medicaid

The Marquette County Board of Commissioners heard an update on what type of funding the county is receiving from FEMA in wake of this spring’s flooding at their meeting Tuesday night.

The county will receive public assistance funding, which would go towards county roads and facilities that are used by the public.  Individual homeowners will not receive funding.

FEMA will be coming to the Upper Peninsula later this month to see how much money Marquette County and other affected areas will receive.

“They’ve (FEMA) got all the information, now they’re going to come up.  They did what’s called a preliminary damage assessment, and now they’re going to come up and determine how much we will be eligible for,” Marquette County’s Emergency Management Coordinator Teresa Schwalbach said.

The board also approved sending a letter of support of Governor Snyder’s Medicaid expansion bill.

The commissioners said it is an important piece of legislation that would benefit not only the state, but also Marquette County.

“There’s a lot of people who work for maybe $32,000 or less, if they have a family of four, they would benefit from this,” Chairman of the Marquette County Board of Commissioners Gerry Corkin said.  “And half of those people are children, so this bill really, if you look at it logically, it’s a no brainer.”

“Forty-two percent of Marquette County’s uninsured population would benefit from this expansion,” Commissioner Steve Pence said.  “And if someone as conservative as our governor thinks it’s a good idea, that ought to be pretty convincing.”

The commissioners added they hope the bill passes when the senate reconvenes, and that the bill benefits the people who need it the most.