Even as the state posted at least some details on a new website Wednesday about where settlement money is going, the chair of the Michigan Opioid Advisory Commission told lawmakers that the panel has struggled to get more detailed information from state health officials.
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
Experts: Henry Ford, Ascension Michigan venture likely to impact care, costs
Some worry that another health care consolidation means higher costs for care, but hospitals argue that staff wages and inflation in supplies and equipment drive the prices for care.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Medical debt to be erased for up to 80K Oakland County, Michigan, residents
Oakland County will use $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars, or COVID relief funds, to work with a national nonprofit, RIP Medical Debt, that will pay off medical debt for pennies on the dollar.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Henry Ford, Ascension Michigan to partner in latest health care shift
The 19-state hospital chain, Ascension, will shed its south and mid-Michigan hospitals, but it will keep its hospitals in northern Michigan.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Nearly four years into COVID, Michigan’s autumn looking far more promising
For three years, Michigan’s autumn has meant a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. This year, the rise and severity of the virus is looking far more benign, leaving far more room for guarded optimism.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan cancer drug donation program looks to cut waste, help those in need
A group of Michigan pharmacists and doctors are setting up a statewide cancer drug exchange — more than 16 years after a state law allowed it. It’s intended to eliminate waste in usable drugs while helping those who can’t afford treatment.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Families fuel Michigan bills for parity in mental health insurance coverage
Despite a 2008 federal law that requires insurers to cover mental health and substance abuse treatment like other illnesses, families say insurers continue to deny such coverage, making new state laws essential.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
In Michigan mental health crisis, a tug-of-war over too few social workers
Michigan schools, mental health agencies and hospitals fight over too few social workers. Could relaxed licensing, better pay help?
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Munson to trim inpatient services at rural northern Michigan hospitals
Munson Healthcare, northern Michigan’s largest employer, will be limiting services at rural hospitals while boosting them in Traverse City. Officials cite staff shortages and rising patient demand for virtual options.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Activists pressure Detroit lawmaker opposed to Michigan abortion bills
Days after Detroit Rep. Karen Whitsett cast a surprising ‘no’ vote against a package of abortion bills important to Democrats, abortion rights activists applied more public pressure in a bid to change her stand.