Benton Harbor Needs Healthcare Now

AN AMENDMENT TO THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF BENTON HARBOR TO REQUIRE THE CREATION OF A HEALTHCARE ACTION PLAN; TO ESTABLISH A CITIZENS’ ADVISORY HEALTHCARE ACTION COMMITTEE (“CITIZENS’ ACTION COMMITTEE”) TO CREATE THE HEALTHCARE ACTION PLAN AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADDRESS HEALTHCARE COSTS AND HEALTHCARE INACCESSIBILITY; TO PRESCRIBE THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE CITIZENS’ ACTION COMMITTEE; TO PRESCRIBE THE CITIZENS’ ACTION COMMITTEE’S COMPOSITION AND ORGANIZATION; AND TO REQUIRE THE PUBLICATION, A PUBLIC OVERVIEW, AND ADOPTION OF THE HEALTHCARE ACTION PLAN.

This proposed charter amendment does not alter or abrogate an existing charter provision. The full text of the proposal to add Chapter XVI to the Benton Harbor Charter is as follows:

Chapter XVI

CITIZENS’ ADVISORY HEALTHCARE ACTION COMMITTEE

Creation: 

Section 16.1. A Citizens’ Advisory Healthcare Action Committee (“Citizens’ Action Committee”) is hereby created to prepare a Healthcare Action Plan and make recommendations to address prohibitive healthcare costs and healthcare inaccessibility in a biennial action plan.

Findings, Purpose, Intent:

Section 16.2. The health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the City are served by regular, transparent, and public evaluation of healthcare affordability, accessibility, insurance and benefit coverage, and medical service availability. A recurring process for collecting public testimony, reviewing data, and evaluating policy impacts will assist the City and the jurisdiction’s federal and state representatives in identifying barriers to healthcare access and in recommending effective responses. It is thus the purpose and intent of this Chapter to establish the Citizens’ Action Committee that will prepare a biennial Healthcare Action Plan and make recommendations to the City Commission and to provide a public process through which the public will be heard and needs assessed.

Healthcare Action Plan Required:

Section 16.3. A Healthcare Action Plan shall be developed by the Citizens’ Action Committee and presented to the City Commission by October 1 of every even-numbered year. At a minimum, the Healthcare Action Plan shall set out:

(9) How healthcare affordability and accessibility, insurance and benefit coverage, and medical service availability have changed for City residents over the prior two years based on available population and public health data, hospital and other health care provider records, and public testimony;

(10) What federal, state, and local policy decisions and other factors have contributed to changes in healthcare affordability and accessibility, insurance and benefit coverage, and service availability;

(11) How federal and state elected officials who represent the City voted on relevant policies, including budgets and legislation, and the extent to which those actions and inactions were consistent with the prior Healthcare Action Plan; and

(12) Recommendations for concrete actions that the City and its federal and state representatives can take to improve healthcare affordability and accessibility, insurance and benefit coverage, and medical service availability. 

Composition of the Citizens’ Action Committee, Quorum, and Voting Rules:

Section 16.4. The Citizens’ Action Committee shall consist of seven (7) members to be appointed by resolution of the City Commission for terms to be determined by the City Commission. Members shall serve without compensation. The City Commission shall select individuals who have the research, analytical, or community engagement skills necessary to execute the powers and duties of the Citizens’ Action Committee and produce a Healthcare Action Plan, and shall select members with a broad array of backgrounds such as healthcare workers, uninsured or underinsured community members, public health professionals, patient advocates, and organized labor. Vacancies on the Citizens’ Action Committee may be filled by the City Commission at any time. A majority of the appointed Citizens’ Action Committee members constitutes a quorum, and action may be taken by a majority vote of the members present. Members may be removed by the City Commission for cause, or automatically after a specified number of unexcused absences.

Powers and Duties of the Citizens’ Action Committee:

Section 16.5. The Citizens’ Action Committee shall have the duty to:

(14) Hold multiple community forums each year for the purpose of hearing firsthand accounts of community members’ ability to afford and access primary, emergency, and necessary specialty medical care, in compliance with open meeting and public records requirements;

(15) Hold multiple community forums each year for the purpose of hearing views on how federal, state, and local policy changes have impacted healthcare affordability, accessibility, and service availability, in compliance with open meeting and public records requirements;

(16) Compile data relevant to assessing the current state of healthcare affordability, accessibility, and service availability;

(17) Assess how federal, state, and local policies and recent policy changes have impacted healthcare affordability, accessibility, and service availability;

(18) Identify how the City’s federal and state representatives voted on relevant policy decisions;

(19) Measure the City’s federal and state representatives’ actions or inactions against the prior Healthcare Action Plan; and

(20) Issue a Healthcare Action Plan that compiles its findings and makes recommendations.

The Citizens’ Action Committee shall have the power to partner with researchers, research institutions, state and local agencies and departments, foundations, and consultants to assist in its assessments and the performance of its duties.

The Citizens’ Action Committee shall elect from among its members a Chair and Vice-Chair, and may also elect such other officers as it deems necessary. Officers shall serve for three years, or until their successors are elected and qualified. Officers shall be elected by majority vote of the committee at the first regular meeting of the year. Any vacancy in an officer position shall be filled by majority vote at the next regular meeting or special meeting called for that purpose. The Chair shall preside at meetings; the Vice-Chair shall perform the Chair’s duties when the Chair is absent or unable to act.

Publication and Action Plan Meeting:

Section 16.6. No later than October 1 of every even-numbered year, the City Commission shall publish the Citizens’ Action Committee’s Healthcare Action Plan, recommendations, and all relevant research and findings in a manner that achieves broad public engagement. Minority members may append dissenting views to the published plan. No later than October 15 of every even-numbered year, the City Commission shall hold a special meeting with the Citizens’ Action Committee to provide a public overview of the Healthcare Action Plan and to adopt a Healthcare Action Plan.

Administration and Implementation:

Section 16.7. The City Commission shall facilitate the implementation of this Chapter. The Citizens’ Action Committee may adopt rules of procedure for the conduct of its meetings, the receipt of public comment, the preparation of reports, and the completion of the Healthcare Action Plan, consistent with the Charter and applicable laws.

Ethics, Conflict of Interest:

Section 16.8. Members of the Citizens’ Action Committee shall be subject to any provision of the City Charter, or City Ordinance, that relates to ethics or conflicts of interest. The City Commission shall also have the power to adopt a conflict of interest or ethics policy for the Citizens’ Action Committee, to which members of the Citizens’ Action Committee shall be bound.

Severability:

Section 16.9. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Charter amendment is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Charter amendment.