Search

Strengthening Michigan's Health and Workforce Stability

BUILDING HEALTH & ECONOMIC STABILITY

For over 25 years, Access Health has run the nation’s longest-operating Community Multi-Share Health Coverage program — proof that health and economic stability are inseparable. Transforming health. Strengthening communities. Reducing public costs. The model is proven, measured, and ready to replicate.

Request a briefing
See the evidence

A proven Michigan model

Access Health is a Michigan nonprofit with over 25 years of experience building practical pathways out of poverty — helping families stay healthy, stay working, and advance economically.

Our work prevents the recurring disruptions that drive job loss, avoidable emergency care, and rising public and private costs — strengthening outcomes for families and small businesses while improving efficiency and return on investment for health systems and government partners.

The problem we solve

Across Michigan, families with limited incomes must navigate fragmented systems to manage both health and work. Routine pressures — transportation, caregiving, housing, food access, and unmanaged health needs — compound quickly, trapping families in instability.

That instability ripples outward:

  • Employers face workforce disruption and lost productivity.
  • Health systems absorb rising uncompensated and avoidable care.
  • Local, state, and federal governments incur higher costs driven by preventable crises rather than sustained stability.

When working families fall through the gaps, the costs land on employers, hospitals, and taxpayers.

How it works — the Access Health model

The Access Health model harnesses existing resources to improve health, employment, and economic outcomes — shifting the local safety net from fragmented responses to coordinated, outcome-driven systems shaped by community priorities. We do this five ways:

  1. Bridging systems — connecting health care, social care, and workforce partners to reduce fragmentation.
  2. Person-centered stability — a no-cost Health Coach helps each person stabilize and reach their goals.
  3. Shared accountability — common measures align partners, track outcomes, and improve performance.
  4. Technology capabilities — equipping local nonprofits with data, referral, and reporting tools to interact meaningfully with health systems and employers.
  5. Reinvesting savings — turning avoided crises into community reinvestment that strengthens long-term system performance.

See how the multi-share coverage works →

Why it works — evidence of impact

The Access Health model has delivered over 25 years of nationally recognized outcomes, validated through state and federal partnerships.

25+ years of stable medical claims costs

Access Health $136.75 vs. Midwest small-employer plans $649.83 — average monthly medical spend per member, 2000–2024.

Source: KFF + Access Health claims data. 

Model Congress already recognized

In 2019, Congressman Bill Huizenga introduced the Community Multi-Share Coverage Program Act (H.R. 4925) — federal legislation written to help nonprofit hospitals and their partners replicate the Access Health approach. Its requirements describe what Access Health already does:

  • Integrates health care, social supports, and workforce stability in one coordinated system.
  • Serves working people who earn too much for Medicaid but can’t afford commercial coverage.
  • Delivers affordable, $0-deductible coverage with low out-of-pocket costs.
  • Engages members as active partners in their own health — supporting growth areas across their personal & health goals by addressing barriers.
  • Funds care through the multi-share model — providers, hospitals, employers, and members all contribute.
  • Produces measurable economic and public-cost results.
  • Operates through community-based infrastructure that coordinates across sectors.

 

Model Certified by CMS

Access Health was the first in the nation to be approved as the only non-insurance coverage plan as meeting the Minimum Essential Coverage by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

Proven Replication

Replicated across 4 states in Texas, Oregon, Colorado, and Minnesota

Proven, recognized, and backed by partners

Recognition

  • The nation’s longest-operating Community Multi-Share Health Coverage program.
  • Replicated in five communities across Texas, Oregon, Colorado, and Minnesota — through a $70 million HRSA program (2009).
  • An independent State of Michigan actuarial analysis found that expanding Access Health across Muskegon County would save federal taxpayers $7.8 million over five years — and that the coverage exceeds Gold-tier standards.
  • Featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, EBRI, and Business Week.

 

Partners: Trinity Health, Corewell Health, United Way, HealthWest Community Mental Health, Federally Qualified Health Centers,  the Michigan Primary Care Association, local & Michigan 211s, Goodwill of West Michigan, Michigan Works!, the Michigan Public Health Institute, the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, and the Center for Health Research Transformation — plus served over 700+ local employers across the region.

Ready to build health and economic stability in your community?

State Leaders

Contact us to see how you can support your state.

Request a briefing

Community Leaders

Bring the model to the families you serve.

Explore partnership

Business Leaders

Bring affordable, no-deductible coverage to your workforce.

See the C3 Health Plan

National Advocacy

Replicate a model already proven in five communities across four states.

Connect with us