Michigan is six months into a one-year Medicaid eligibility review. Roughly 1-in-3 cases reviewed have resulted in residents being dropped from the medical insurance program for low-income people.
Robin Erb
Robin Erb covers a range of health issues in Michigan, including the industry of aging and the issues facing older residents in Michigan, a state that is aging faster than most others. She joined Bridge in 2019 and has led investigations that tracked millions of dollars in opioid settlement money and explored severe worker shortages in health care that threaten lives and the state's economy. She chronicled the shock and grief of Michigan families in COVID’s wake, as well as state policy decisions and the triumphs of medical breakthroughs. Robin previously spent six years covering health at the Detroit Free Press, documenting the battle over, and the eventual passage of, the Affordable Care Act and Michigan's Medicaid expansion. She studied communications and political science at Miami University and has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Lourdes University (Toledo, Ohio). She and her husband raised two wonderful children — but have failed miserably at training their Beagle-Bassets — in southeast Michigan. Reach her at rerb@bridgemi.com.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
More than 350,000 Michiganders have lost Medicaid so far this year
Michigan is in the middle of a one year review of Medicaid cases after enrollment grew to 3.2 million people during pandemic. About a third of the 992,000 people reviewed so far have lost coverage.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
For Michigan kindergarteners next fall, open your mouth and say 'ahh'
An estimated 67,000 Michigan children start school without seeing a dentist, including thousands with mouths filled with rot and pain from neglect. A new law ensures new students receive dental screenings.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Winter returns, along with respiratory misery in Michigan. Here’s what to do
Flu spread remains low, but RSV and other respiratory ailments are filling some emergency rooms and doctors offices. Corewell Health is limiting visitors to some children’s units. Safety tips remain critical.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
U.S. Supreme Court to weigh limits on pill used in most Michigan abortions
The Supreme Court decision to review proposed restrictions on the abortion pill, mifepristone, returns the explosive topic to the national stage during a presidential and congressional election year.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Cantaloupe recall: Six Michigan cases tied to salmonella outbreak
Michigan confirms salmonella cases in Kent, Oakland, Wayne, Marquette and Kalamazoo counties. Cantaloupes have been linked to hundreds of cases in the United States and Canada since Oct. 16.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Lawsuit could mean more pay for some Michigan caregivers, relief for families
A federal court case accused the state of Michigan of unfairly reducing funds in 2015 for those who care for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It might soon be settled.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
A new kind of worker in Michigan nursing homes could address staff shortage
New ‘medication aides’ could free up the state’s too-few nurses to do more resident care. The new position also would give nurse aides another career step ahead and, according to one nursing home leader, up to $6 more per hour.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan moves to protect health workers from assault, leaves a giant loophole
Hospital work can be dangerous, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will soon sign laws meting out harsher punishments to those who assault health workers. Exempt from the penalties: patients who commit many of the assaults.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan’s draft population plan: Better schools, high-tech jobs, new taxes
Draft recommendations from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s population commission includes a laundry list of changes. And they’ll cost money.