Affordable Medicines for Michigan
A public option for drug manufacturing that lowers costs, strengthens supply chains, and creates good jobs.
Prescription drug shortages and rising prices are putting pressure on Michigan families, hospitals, employers, and public budgets.
A small number of global manufacturers control production of many essential generic medicines, creating fragile supply chains and pricing that often bears little relationship to actual manufacturing costs.
MI-Meds would create a practical public manufacturing option focused on essential medicines — lowering long-term costs, preventing shortages, and building good jobs in Michigan.
This is not about replacing private markets. It is about making sure critical medicines stay available and affordable when markets fail.
Drug prices are rising because a small number of pharmaceutical companies control production, patents, and distribution.
This concentration of power allows price hikes that are disconnected from actual manufacturing costs. At the same time, global supply chains have proven fragile — with shortages of insulin, antibiotics, and basic generic medicines affecting Michigan patients and providers.
Hospitals are forced to pay inflated prices. Families delay care. State healthcare spending rises.
Michigan needs a practical solution that restores balance.
Why Drug Prices Keep Rising
MI-Meds Priority List
Create an independent Michigan board to identify high-priority medicines for public production based on cost, shortage risk, and public health need.
The Policy
Michigan would launch MI-Meds, a publicly backed medicine production program focused on essential generic drugs when market failures drive shortages or extreme price spikes.
MI-Meds would prioritize production that helps Michigan:
prevent shortages
stabilize prices
protect public health response
strengthen domestic supply chains
Production decisions would be guided by affordability, supply reliability, workforce development, and regional economic impact.
Facilities could be developed through partnerships with universities, research institutions, contract manufacturers, and private firms.
Public-Interest Pharmaceutical Production
Public Manufacturing Partnerships
Use state investment and operating partnerships to expand medicine production without building an oversized bureaucracy.
The Policy
Essential Medicines Program
MI-Meds would implement a statewide Essential Medicines Program to make sure high-priority medicines are reliably available at affordable prices.
The first phase would focus on medicines that prevent medical crises, reduce hospitalizations, and improve long-term public health, including:
insulin
asthma inhalers
antibiotics
blood pressure medications
widely used generic drugs
An independent Michigan Essential Medicines Advisory Board would maintain and update the statewide priority medicines list based on:
hospitalization prevention
chronic disease management
treatment of common infections
maternal and pediatric health
long-term population health impact
price instability and shortage risk
The list would be reviewed annually based on medical evidence, affordability, and supply reliability.
Residents would receive medicines through existing pharmacies, clinics, hospitals, and mail-order systems — using the infrastructure people already rely on.
MI-Meds Essential Medicines Program
Guarantees access to designated life-saving medications with no cost at the point of service.
The Policy
MI-Meds would help position Michigan as a national leader in public-interest pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply-chain resilience.
Investments in facilities and workforce training would support:
skilled union manufacturing jobs
scientific and technical careers
regional economic revitalization
resilient supply networks
This strategy aligns healthcare affordability with long-term industrial competitiveness.
MI-Meds Creates Good Jobs and Industrial Renewal
Good Jobs Standards
State investment would prioritize facilities that meet strong wage, training, and labor standards.
The Policy
Lower Drug Costs Across the Healthcare System
By increasing supply stability and negotiating lower medicine prices, MI-Meds would reduce financial pressure on:
patients paying out of pocket
employers providing coverage
hospitals managing tight margins
state healthcare programs
Over time, lower drug inflation would reduce systemwide healthcare costs and make broader reforms like MI-Care easier to sustain.
When medicines cost less and shortages happen less often, families are less likely to delay care, hospitals face fewer disruptions, and public healthcare dollars go further.
Affordable medicines are essential infrastructure.
With MI-Meds, Michigan can lower costs, prevent shortages, create good jobs, and prove that practical public action can deliver real results.
MI-Meds should move quickly where families, hospitals, and pharmacies need relief now, while building the long-term capacity to prevent future shortages and price spikes.
The first phase focuses on lower costs and immediate access. Later phases build supply security, public production capacity, and long-term industrial strength.
This approach allows Michigan to show real results in the first two years while building a durable system for medicine affordability and public health security.
MI-Meds Implementation Timeline
MI-Meds starts by lowering costs and securing supply, then builds public production capacity over time.
The Policy
Phase 1 — Lower Costs and Protect Supply
Years 1–2
Michigan starts with the fastest actions:
create the MI-Meds authority and Essential Medicines Board
publish the first priority medicines list
launch statewide bulk purchasing and price negotiation
begin $0 access for first-wave essential medicines
set simple reimbursement rules for pharmacies and providers
begin reserve planning for shortage-prone drugs
What people feel first:
lower medicine costs
faster access to essential prescriptions
fewer delays for insulin, inhalers, antibiotics, and common generics
Phase 2 — Build Public Capacity
Years 2–4
Once access and purchasing systems are in place, Michigan expands into supply resilience and production:
launch public and contract manufacturing partnerships
begin first-wave Michigan-backed production for priority generics
establish strategic medicine reserves
expand research, packaging, logistics, and quality-control partnerships
What this adds:
stronger supply stability
less exposure to national shortages
more dependable access for hospitals and pharmacies
Phase 3 — Scale MI-Meds Statewide
Years 4+
Michigan then grows MI-Meds into a broader affordability and industrial platform:
expand production capacity
add more essential medicines over time
deepen workforce and apprenticeship pipelines
integrate MI-Meds more fully with broader healthcare and industrial strategy
Long-term result:
MI-Meds becomes a permanent part of Michigan’s healthcare affordability and supply-security system.
MI-Meds is the medicine affordability and supply-stability part of the Michigan Reform Plan.
It helps lower drug costs, prevent shortages, and reduce pressure on families, hospitals, employers, and public budgets.
MI-Meds also supports the success of MI-Care by making prescription coverage more affordable and reliable over time.
At the same time, it connects to Michigan’s industrial strategy by building public-interest production capacity, strengthening domestic supply chains, and creating advanced manufacturing jobs in Michigan.
In the Michigan Reform Plan, MI-Meds is both a healthcare reform and an industrial policy.
How MI-Meds Fits into the Michigan Reform Plan
MI-Meds lowers medicine costs and strengthens supply so MI-Care can deliver reliable $0 healthcare.
The Policy
Legislative Package
MI-Meds would be implemented through a phased legislative package that starts with affordability and access, then builds long-term supply stability and public production capacity.
The first phase would focus on the fastest and most visible results:
creating the MI-Meds program
establishing the Essential Medicines Board
launching the Essential Medicines Program
guaranteeing $0 point-of-service access for designated essential medicines
creating statewide purchasing and price negotiation authority
setting simple reimbursement rules for pharmacies and providers
beginning strategic reserve planning for shortage-prone drugs
Later legislation would expand public manufacturing partnerships, reserve capacity, workforce pipelines, research partnerships, and long-term supply security.
Move first on affordable access and supply stability, then scale public production and long-term medicine security.
The Policy
Policy Details
For readers interested in the full legislative framework, the proposed statutory language for this policy is available below.
These documents outline how the proposal could be implemented in Michigan law and provide a more detailed view of the policy design.
The policy frameworks will continue to be refined with input from policy experts, healthcare providers, educators, and community leaders across Michigan.
Help Build Support for
Public Drug Manufacturing
Lower prescription drug prices will require strong public support and political courage.
If you believe Michigan should manufacture essential medicines and protect families from price spikes and shortages, help us build the momentum to make this plan law.