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Opinion | Yes, Michigan’s house is on fire. And that includes our health
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The refrain from business leaders at last month’s Mackinac Policy Conference was constant: Michigan, our house is on fire.
The data presented were striking. Michigan sits 33rd in the percentage of population with a college degree, 44th in student reading performance, 40th in average income per person and 45th in the unemployment rate.
It wasn’t surprising, therefore, that the conference agenda focused on two areas critical to Michigan’s future: educating the workforce and stimulating the economy.
What was missing? Very little discussion about health.
It turns out that our health is on fire as well. In fact, Michigan ranks as the 33rd healthiest state according to America’s Health Rankings.
Specifically, the state ranks 44th in preventable hospitalizations, 43rd in the percent of adults with multiple chronic conditions, 41st in the percent of households with food security, 38th in infant mortality, and 43rd in per capita public health funding. To make matters worse, Michigan spends a meager nickel of the health care dollar on primary care, the one area in health care delivery that meaningfully improves a population’s life expectancy. No wonder our health care outcomes suffer – a third of our residents lack access to a regular primary care physician.
Our economic woes are inextricably linked to our health woes, and it should anger us. At a time when affordability of health care is top of mind, nearly 2 in 3 Michiganders reported that they, or a family member, skipped or delayed medical care due to costs last year. It is expensive to be unhealthy. Ask any businessperson what happens to their costs and productivity when their workforce is unhealthy. Ask a teacher how well a child learns when they don’t have access to healthy food or a school nurse. You can’t get serious about economic vitality or educating our future workforce without getting serious about health.
We can do better, and there are policies across the country that work.
Let’s expand access to primary care by setting a primary care spending target, similar to states like California and Rhode Island. Since primary care practices are some of the lowest paid in health care, giving them upfront payments and paying them for quality outcomes, not quantity of services, would facilitate the person-centered care that inspired them to go into the field.
Let’s increase per-capita public health expenditures like Indiana so communities are free of environmental hazards, protected against substances of abuse and infectious disease threats and have access to services such as prenatal care, blood pressure screenings, and fall prevention services. Indiana saw health improvements and cost savings when their local health departments expanded these services with increased funding.
Voters should take politicians to task. When it takes you nine months to see a primary care doctor, ask them what they plan to do about it. Ask them where you are supposed to go to get high-quality health care when you lose your job or insurance. When you hear of outbreaks of infectious diseases, ask them how they are investing in making sure spread is limited in your community. Ask them why, because you live in Michigan, your baby is less likely to have a first birthday party.
We cannot have a booming economy without health. Every Michigander should be asking their politicians not just what they are going to do for the workforce and the economy, but what they are going to do to keep Michiganders healthy and thriving. Let’s hope we hear more about these plans well before next year’s conference on Mackinac Island.
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