HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) - Perhaps the last chance for the state to have any say on the implementation or operation of the federal Affordable Care Act in Michigan went by the wayside yesterday.

The state Senate deferred any action on House Bill 4111 before recessing for the Easter break. The legislation, which cleared the House last month, would’ve provided 30 billion dollars for a partnership exchange in which the state and Washington would jointly operate an online database for residents to decide on health care providers. The lack of passage before the break means that the federal government will be the sole operators of such an exchange in Michigan, according to Governor Snyder. The bill’s sponsor, House Appropriations Committee Chair Joe Haveman of Holland, takes issue with opponents such as Twila Brase of the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, who called the Senate’s move a “huge victory in the battle against implementation of Obamacare in Michigan.” Haveman made his remarks in an appearance on WHTC's "Talk of the Town" program with guest host Ed Ver Schure.

Ironically, it was the Senate who passed a fully-operated state health exchange last fall, but the House didn’t act because of the upcoming election and the pending Supreme Court decision on the Act’s legality.