A survey conducted this spring for the Michigan Association of Health Plans Foundation found that 61 percent of people believe health care is a basic human right and 94 percent say people should receive emergency treatment regardless of ability to pay.

“This survey contains some important messages for Michigan policymakers” in Michigan who are debating the need for a state-operated health insurance exchange and whether to expand Medicaid in 2014, said Rick Murdock, president of the foundation, in a statement.

“It is clear that our state’s residents want Michigan to move forward to make affordable health care available to all – a key tenet supported by (the 17 insurance company members of the Michigan Association of Health Plans),” said Murdock, who also is the association’s executive director.

Earlier this year, the Michigan Senate approved Senate Bill 693 to set up Michigan’s health insurance exchange. House Republicans held hearings, but decided not to consider the measure until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Last month, the Supreme Court upheld major provisions of the Affordable Care Act. One provision that was upheld permits states to create their own health insurance exchanges, which could allow consumers to purchase subsidized private health insurance through an online web portal.

But Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, now says House Republicans prefer to wait until after the Nov. 6 presidential election to vote on the exchange.

Murdock said waiting until November to start work on the state exchange most likely will mean the federal government will set one up for Michigan.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has set a Nov. 16 deadline for states to submit an application for a state exchange or a state-federal partnership exchange. The exchange must be open for enrollment in October 2013 with policies effective Jan. 1, 2014.

Murdock has said not only must Michigan hire companies to create the information technology infrastructure for the exchange, but health insurers must create specific products and price them for the exchange.

Gov. Rick Snyder has said he supports Michigan developing its own exchange and prefers to work through the legislature to develop it. Through a spokesman, Snyder said he could issue an executive order to start developmental work on the exchange and avoid a federal-run exchange.

A state-based exchange would allow individuals and small employers to comparison shop among private insurance plans through an online web portal. Initially open to employers with 100 or fewer employees, but in 2017 it would be open to companies with more than 100 employees.

During the next year, Michigan also must decide whether to extend Medicaid benefits in 2014 to people with income less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or $29,700 for a family of four or $14,400 per individual. An estimated 17 million people nationally could be added to the 60 million people in the Medicaid program, with about 500,000 of them in Michigan.

The federal government would pay 100 percent of the additional costs for the first three years through 2017. States would be paid a declining through 2020, but the federal government would still pay at least 90 percent of the expansion’s cost.

The survey, which sampled 800 voters, was conducted before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by Lansing-based Insyght Institute.

The survey also found that: