Hospitals say they need the fees to stay solvent. Bridge asked the top largest how much they collect. None disclosed the amounts, but some offered partial answers.
Robin Erb
Robin Erb covers health care and aging for Bridge Michigan, focusing on a state that is aging faster than most. She has led investigations tracking opioid settlement money and health care worker shortages, and previously spent six years at the Detroit Free Press covering the Affordable Care Act and Michigan's Medicaid expansion. She holds a master's degree from Lourdes University in Toledo.
Robin and her husband raised two children in southeast Michigan — and have failed miserably at training their Beagle-Bassets.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Hidden fees cost Michigan patients millions. Lawmakers push reforms
‘Facility fees’ are buried deep in bills and often include little explanation. Health officials say they need the money to stay afloat, but won’t divulge much about the charges. One expert calls them a ‘black box.’
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Who will be exempt from Medicaid work rules in Michigan? What to know
The US Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services issued guidance this month to define which Medicaid recipients are too frail to meet new work requirements that start after Jan. 1.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
As health costs climb, some care shifts to Michigan’s charity clinics
A network of free clinics operates on shoestring budgets, volunteers, donated supplies and hope. Some predict they’ll need more of that if more Michiganders lose health coverage.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan school districts offer insurance-free care to beat rising health costs
Direct primary care typically works outside insurance. But what if it were instead added to existing coverage? Three Michigan school districts are giving it a try.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Blood test can find cancers, save Michigan lives. Is that worth $100B?
The Galleri blood test and others like it could revolutionize cancer care but add billions in costs each year to the US health system.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
As Michigan ages, are we overlooking a critical type of caregiver – the friend?
Friends may not see themselves as caregivers, yet when they help with activities of daily living, they are crucial to a person’s independence and longevity. That, in turn, can save tax dollars by curbing the odds at nursing home care.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan was to be a ‘haven state’ for abortion. It didn’t happen
Waiting lists stretched for weeks at abortion clinics in Michigan in 2022, as residents in states that banned the procedure scrambled for services in ‘haven states.’ Today, some Michigan clinic owners say they struggle to stay open as more patients seek abortion resources online.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan nursing home chain got millions of dollars for woeful care, AG says
Michigan-based Pioneer Health Care, also known as Legacy Health Care Management, billed Medicaid for millions of dollars, even as its residents languished without proper staffing, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Planned Parenthood of Michigan closes three more clinics; cites federal cuts
Michigan’s largest abortion provider — and provider of other sexual health services — continued to shrink its footprint Thursday, announcing the immediate closure of three more brick-and-mortar clinics.