-
1 week ago | 
bridgemi.com | Robin Erb
Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, an ear, nose and throat specialist, has taken on leadership roles in the state’s and nation’s medical organizationsFriends say his soft-spoken, approachable manner makes him uniquely positioned for the hot-seat role‘Dr. Bobby,’ as he’s known, says he will draw on his experience as a brain cancer patient to better the nation’s health care FLINT — The new leader of the nation’s largest and most respected doctors organization was tugging at ear wax this week.
-
1 week ago | 
bridgedetroit.com | Eli Newman |Robin Erb |Christine Ferretti
A package of bills would weaken how Michigan enforces vaccine mandates Meanwhile in Washington, the Trump administration has shifted many long-held vaccine policiesHHS Secretary Robert F.
-
3 weeks ago | 
bridgemi.com | Robin Erb
Naloxone, often sold under the brand name, Narcan, is a first step in saving lives, reversing an overdose in crisis. (Bridge file photo) June 6, 2025Drug overdose deaths fell by 1,000, or about 34%, in 2024, according to provisional state data.
-
3 weeks ago | 
bridgemi.com | Robin Erb
Four nursing home chains may hide profits by creating affiliate companies, new report alleges Many of the Michigan nursing homes in those chains have faced a ‘disproportionate’ number of care complaints in recent years, the reports authors say Together, the chains operate 98 skilled nursing facilities, or more than 1 in 5 of Michigan’s nursing homes Michigan’s nursing home industry may be hiding millions of dollars in profits by farming out services to their own affiliates, even as complaints...
-
1 month ago | 
bridgemi.com | Robin Erb
Michigan has settled a federal lawsuit that accused the state of ‘staggering failures’ in mental health services A judge still has to approve the settlement Some improvements are underway, but with Medicaid funding in peril and continuing workforce shortages, it’s unclear how quickly the state can make additional changes Michigan children with mental health needs might soon get more help from the state under settlement terms in a federal lawsuit accusing the state of “staggering failures”...
-
1 month ago | 
bridgemi.com | Robin Erb
Public health’s coffers, arguably underfunded for decades, were boosted with COVID-era fundingIn Michigan, $5.5 million was being used to boost defense against disease outbreaks and terrorism, but the Trump administration abruptly ended the funds in MarchSupporters of the cuts say it’s time to end those funds now that the pandemic is overGAYLORD —The equipment inside a public health lab here sits shiny, new and eerily quiet. These rooms are dark. Three lab staff have been laid off.
-
1 month ago | 
bridgemi.com | Robin Erb
Proposed tax cuts by the Trump administration may be offset by Medicaid reductions; Republicans are wrangling over the details On Friday, hardline conservatives scuttled the most detailed plan Here’s what we know about possible impacts in Michigan under the working plan ANN ARBOR — Pressure continues to mount in Congress and from the White House to shave billions of dollars from Medicaid, leaving Michigan’s health care leaders to grapple with the “what ifs” in a battle that’s likely to...
-
1 month ago | 
bridgemi.com | Robin Erb
Senior centers may be more important than ever as Michigan confronts an aging crisis Many centers are forced to cobble together funding to survive because of the state’s hodgepodge of local millages That builds wide inequities in the system — from country club-like centers that stand on their own to those fitted into old buildings or tucked into parks and rec departmentsROCHESTER — Entering the sprawling OPC Social & Activity Center is an exercise in choice: Pickleball or pottery?
-
1 month ago | 
bridgemi.com | Robin Erb
In just over three decades, Medicaid has more than doubled its coverage in Michigan — now paying for more than 2 in 5 newborns and 2 in 3 nursing home residents Advocates say cuts will shred Michigan’s safety net for the state’s most vulnerable But where some see ‘cuts,’ others see a need for ‘efficiencies’ in the billions of tax dollars each year that pay for the growing program MAPLE CITY— Medicaid in Michigan can be measured by lots of big numbers — from the nearly 2.7 residents it covered...
-
2 months ago | 
bridgedetroit.com | Robin Erb |Lauren Abdel-Razzaq
The state of Michigan has a senior-care crisis that is worsening by the day. The state spends billions of dollars a year for a “dysfunctional assembly of programs where frustration, failure, and poor outcomes are far too common,” according to a 2022 report by the Michigan Elder Justice InitiativeMichigan spends $4.4 billion in state and federal funds for seniors, providing everything from home-delivered meals to round-the-clock nursing care.
