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By Daily News staff
Voters in Dickinson and Iron counties will decide a health care benefits assistance millage in Tuesday's election, while Iron County voters will be asked as well to approve a new levy for the Meals on Wheels program.
The health care millage of 0.1 mills, or 10 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, would help support professional assistance for individuals and families in obtaining Medicare, Medicaid, prescription drugs, affordable health insurance and other related health care benefits.
The levy was proposed to the respective county boards by the Medical Care Access Coalition, which helps secure health coverage and prescription assistance for area residents.
MCAC was started in 2004 to help people who could not afford medical insurance and who didn't have insurance. When the Affordable Health Care Act came into effect, staff members went through state and federal training to become free certified Medicare and Medicaid counselors, and certified application counselors for the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Federal and state funding is no longer available, even as the need for counselors persists, according to MCAC advocates.
In 2017, the coalition assumed the Prescription Assistance program, which was formerly administered by Dickinson County Healthcare System. Historically, that program has saved clients more than $1 million annually.
The four-year levy would not specifically fund MCAC, but would provide money to the counties who would then bid out the services.
In Iron County, the proposed millage would generate an estimated $53,728 when first levied in 2020. In Dickinson County, the 2020 levy would be an estimated $93,245.
For a home with a market value of $80,000, and a taxable value of $40,000, a tax of 0.1 mills amounts to $4.
The proposed Meals on Wheels levy in Iron County is also 0.1 mills, or 10 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, and would used to provide and deliver meals for individuals age 60 or older throughout Iron County.
The new levy is for four years, beginning in 2020, and would raise an estimated $53,728 in the first year.
Several millage renewals also are on the ballot in Iron County. They are:
-- 0.15 mills, or 15 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, to maintain advanced life support ambulance service throughout the county. This four-year levy would raise an estimated $80,590 when first levied in 2021.
-- O.27 mills, or 27 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, for the operation of all senior centers in Iron County. A total of $10,000 is to be distributed to each center, with the balance distributed based on the number of people age 60 and older in each municipality served by the centers. The four-year levy would raise an estimated $145,063 when first levied in 2021.
-- 0.5 mills, or 50 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, for road maintenance, repair and reconstruction. The cities of Caspian, Crystal Falls, Gaastra and Iron River and the village of Alpha will receive an amount equal to the millage revenues collected in their respective jurisdictions, while the balance is for the Iron County Road Commission. The estimated revenue for the four-year levy is $268,636 when first levied in 2021.