Insights for action
Vote! Choose which nominee gets the MHF Defender Award
Voting has ended for 2025.It's time to vote! We had five nominees for the MHF Defender Award this year. They represent both chambers of the legislature, and both parties. The final result will be up to you, our reader. How to vote Choose the issue that matters most...
Nominee #5 for the 2025 MHF Defender Award
I’m pleased to present the fifth and final 2025 nominee for the MHF Defender Award! Rep. Jamie Thompson is back in the line-up after being nominated for our first award last year. By no coincidence, she is a nurse, and speaks here to fundamental issues of an area...
Michigan budget may ban Implicit Bias Training, DEI in healthcare
The hotly-contested Michigan budget, as it stands, appears to eliminate Implicit Bias Training (IBT). IBT, you may recall, is one way Michigan imposes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In doing so, Lansing insults Michigan's healthcare workforce ethics, and...
Nominee 4 for the MHF Defender Award
Nominee number four identifies the toll our healthcare system takes on nurse practitioners (NPs). Earlier this year, I explained how NPs may be the key to more accessible prescribing, and who wants to stop them. As Senator Irwin describes, the legal burden on NPs...
Nominee #3 for the MHF Defender Award
The third nominee for this year's MHF Defender Award is Senator Michael Webber. While the first and second nominations addressed licensing barriers to healthcare freedom, this time the issue is health insurance. Nominee Testimony Don't let his pleasant,...
Cozy in the Capitol: Lansing’s power couples
How close is too close for family members who lobby and legislate? The Allegan News kicked off more research with an editorial on Lansing power couples. It seems state government has problems even more deeply entrenched than DEI. MDHHS: biggest bureaucracy / lobby...
Nominee #2 for the 2025 MHF Defender Award
I'm pleased to present the second nomination for the 2025 MHF Defender Award! You might be surprised at the historic relics lingering in state health policy. Representative Jaime Churches explains how over-the-top education requirements for licensing impact her...
First Nominee – 2025 MHF Defender Award
I’m pleased to introduce the first nominee for the 2025 MHF Defender Award! Representative Felicia Brabec drops a forbidden truth bomb about healthcare licensing. In doing so, she makes the case for common sense reform in social work licensing. [video width="1280"...
Where is your insurance money?
I've been wondering for months about the big picture of healthcare money flow. Vast sums pour into insurance from our premiums, employers, state and federal tax dollars, and more. Yet patients and hospitals are cash-strapped, and many doctors aren’t doing so well,...
Parade on the 4th: Volunteers launch the MHF 2025 Report Card
Thank you, Sponsors & Volunteers, for successfully launching the MHF Report Card in the Dorr 4th Parade! Welcome to our 2025 Independence Day photo album. THANK YOU to the Hazenberg family, who again donated their truck, time, and expertise securing the float....
Should patients be worried about Trump policy changes?
The scientific community and stock markets are agitated over the Trump Administration's rapid-fire health policy changes. Should patients be worried? Who's worried: industry, markets, and the Swamp Guests on Monday's NPR broadcast of 1A are worried, and they think...
Medicare Rules cost more and reach farther than you think
Medicare Rules Directly Jack Up Prices and Hidden Costs Medicare rules limit access to local care. I learned this the hard way recently when I broke both wrists and needed home care. Medicare Rules Cost Us Access to Care For a healthcare business to accept Medicare...
A patient advocate must constantly be a squeaky wheel
This guest blog is an eloquent heart-cry from a good friend and devoted patient advocate. My father is a resident in an assisted living facility – we believe one of the best in the area. But as his advocate, I'm constantly frustrated by the paperwork, the red...
Advent: from Loss to Victory
Guest blog by Chris Johnson Ever since reading an article by Molly Hemmingway extolling the wonder of the Advent season nearly a decade ago, December 1st through the 25th has been one of my favorite times of the year. I think for about every year since then, I’ve...
We interrupt lame 🦆 duck for this important 🏆 message
An MHF member asked a great Lame Duck question this week. I can't wait to tell you how directly it connects to presenting the MHF Defender Award in Lansing on Tuesday, December 2. Lame Duck woes Michigan citizens who love healthcare freedom are cringing as lame...
Catholic hospital and medical school coming to Howell, MI
By Colin Joyce Edited by Abigail Nobel As a Christian pre-med student at Hillsdale College, I am looking forward to the new hospital planned in Howell, Michigan. Catholic Healthcare International (CHI) recently purchased the Ascension Health campus in this small...
Meet the Intern!
In September, Michigan Healthcare Freedom (MHF) welcomed our first Hillsdale College intern, Colin Joyce. I’m delighted to introduce him to you here. We launched the MHF Internship Program this fall with several ideas in mind. First, the expanded MHF Report Card,...
Make your mark on health care in Michigan: the MHF Defender Award
Michigan Healthcare Freedom presents, for public vote, four nominations for the MHF Defender Award. Let's celebrate state legislators who defend healthcare freedom in the trenches of Lansing! MHF announced the award and opened it for public...
Press Release: October is Get the Score Month in Michigan
For Immediate Release Media Contact: Abigail Nobel PolicyRNAbby@gmail.com BURNIPS, Michigan - Michigan Healthcare Freedom (MHF) invites Michigan voters to get the score on their state legislators during the month of October. To inform citizens and make elections...
The Heart of Healthcare
The heart of healthcare is at risk, yet Constitution Day still reminds us why governments exist. Why bother with health policy? Tracking the lobbies, agencies, bills, industry trends all comes down to one thing. The heart of healthcare needs our protection. The...
Where DEI goes to Die
Confronted with much-needed opposition, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is doubling down in healthcare. If this is where it goes to die, it won't be quick. Five days ago, I met the Texas whistle blowers. They were keynote speakers at the Sentinel Summit in...
MHF in the News
It's been a busy month! When you're a nonprofit on a tight budget, being covered in the news is a wonderful boost. When it's your local paper and a national talk show on the same day, it's even better. The Allegan County News took time to understand Michigan...
Interactive Report Card
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More soaring, less thud
July often starts out soaring, and then goes thud. Can we do something about this? I mean, one minute it's all America the Beautiful, and I'm admiring West Michigan's amber waves of grain and cheering the MHF volunteers in our small town of Dorr's 4th of July...
World Health Organization: 3 key facts for actionable freedom
With the World Health Organization (WHO) in the news again (when is it not?) constitutional conservatives are concerned. Fortunately, the facts support actionable freedom. He who would take over the world must first control the money, the data, and the minds of...
Celebrate Healthcare Freedom Defenders: a Call for Nominations
Watching (often depressing) Lansing bill hearings creates a sense of urgency. We need to celebrate legislators who actively defend our healthcare freedoms! As you know, healthcare freedom is under perpetual attack in Lansing. It would be easy to get disgusted and...
Public Health: the Backwater of Healthcare
I've written before about public health being the backwater of healthcare. However, today my local health department not only reinforced the point, it may have set a new standard for backwardness. Longtime subscribers may remember the Covid Sanity Fact Sheet, which...
The Meaning of the MHF Logo
Readers might assume the Michigan Healthcare Freedom (MHF) logo refers to the medical caduceus, but that’s only part of the story. Caduceus: historic symbol of messenger, healing, and commerce The caduceus of ancient mythology and classical literature was carried...
Cancel culture is a problem in the freedom movement
Cancel culture is active in the healthcare freedom movement, and it's a problem. I experienced a (relatively mild) case of it this week, and failed to respond effectively. Writing this article helped me think through a better way. I hope it helps you, too. Cancel...
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Grow healthcare freedom with us! The HEAL Michigan 2024 Legislative Report Card
How to Forum II: Cut Through the Intensity
Healthcare and health policy are intense, and our goal at the MHF Forum is to help you cut through the intensity to the information you want. Forum topics have exploded since my first How to Forum article. There are over 600 posts on topics that impact our...
Calling for Public Comment on Discriminatory MDHHS Standards
Recent campus displays of woke antisemitism have ignited public opposition to discriminatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies across the U.S. Unfortunately, the State of Michigan is doubling down on discriminatory DEI policies through its...
Jeff Foxworthy, Michigan-style 🦊
Remember the Jeff Foxworthy jokes that started with, "You might be a redneck if ..."? Claiming the percentage of my heritage that qualifies as redneck, I loved Foxworthy's humor. But it wasn't funny this week when MDHHS did its own variation of the redneck joke...
Video: Speaking at the Ottawa County Patriots
With all the healthcare freedom issues in Michigan, I was ready to talk when the Ottawa County Patriots invited me to speak last week. Thanks to the OCP organizers and production team for making the videos available! Important bills discussed Michigan's proposed...
Compacts Threaten to Globalize Michigan Healthcare
Recent Michigan bill hearings on Physical and Occupational Therapy licensing compacts further advance globalization of healthcare. In addition, a Physician Assistant compact bill is reportedly back in the legislature. Centralized control of professional licensing...
State of Michigan vs. Mental Health Innovators
The State of Michigan’s propensity to control everything is coming back to haunt mental health care, leading to surprising voices for healthcare freedom. Chronic State Meddling in Mental Health Market Michigan’s community mental health services programs, run by...
Child Care and the 2024 Election
Over the past year, Lansing and Washington together assaulted Michigan's most powerful barriers to government overreach: intact families and local control of child care. This is the story of government-sponsored addiction to the most powerful drug available: “free”...
MDHHS Budget Values
Reviewing Governor Whitmer’s new MDHHS budget, we can see what she values. This is equally true of legislators who voted for it. What’s in the MDHHS Budget? Yesterday, MDHHS highlighted the budget’s mental health spending in a press release, “MDHHS Director...
From the Executive Director’s Desk
I did something brave this week. After 10 years of executing the Michigan Healthcare Freedom mission by promoting real health policy on Facebook – I changed our “About” statement. That may not seem like much, but to MHF, it’s a big deal. Seeking to engage the...
How to Forum I
If you've never used a Forum or Discussion Board, this How to Forum is for you. (Check out How to Forum II if you're looking for tips to find specific posts.) A few months ago when the MHF Forum launched, I was thrilled. It had been a lot of work, but even more,...
Schizophrenic State Mental Health Policy
Should the state control mental health? The correct answer is, “Only if you believe in putting schizophrenics in charge of the asylum.” Clearly, mental health care will be what the state says it is, as long as the state pays for it, regulates it, decides who may...
Health Sharing: Why a State Tax Deduction
As states clean up Medicaid rolls, a tax break for health sharing could benefit residents and focus the troubled program on its mission. Medicaid “churn” is back Since the federal government removed COVID restrictions, state Medicaid is once again required to prove...
Red Flags in Organ Donation
When I took a Gift of Life class back in the 1990s, the principles seemed sound. I displayed the pin with those from Nurses Christian Fellowship and Right to Life. Twenty years later, Michigan passed the bill for free-standing organ procurement center. I felt...
Celebrate Nurses Week!
If you're looking for a special way to celebrate Nurses' Week this year, factor in healthcare freedom. Let's start with the reasons. Three great reasons to Celebrate Nurses Week 2023: You probably know at least one nurse, or are related to one. If you are one...
Rejecting IBT: one year in
June 1 will mark one year into Michigan’s mandated Implicit Bias Training (IBT) for all licensed healthcare workers. Back then, I called the IBT mandate immoral, unconstitutional, and tyrannical. Now that they've experienced the "training," professionals who pride...
Workshop: From Headlines to Health Policy Change
MHF Workshop coming up! To most of us, health policy sounds remote, complicated, and boring. We hope healthcare will get better, but honestly - we'd rather someone else dealt with it. COVID is over, so we're fine, right? Nothing could be farther from the truth....
Michigan’s Narcissist
Ever notice how state Medicaid policy is like a narcissist? Too many of us have had a narcissist in our lives. Out of all characteristics, the manipulative mind games may strike the deepest: You are too stupid/ugly/incompetent to make it on your own. No one else...
Blurring the Lines
Have you noticed how institutional lines are being blurred? I see it in news headlines, and in Michigan bills as I summarize them for the MHF Guide to State Health Policy. Institutions – many of them – have strayed from their core purpose. This breaks down public...
Guest on the Nurses Saving Nurses Podcast
I was a guest this Tuesday on the Nurses Saving Nurses Podcast. The interview with Nathan Baar, nurse CEO, ranged from drug prices to health policy activism. Many experts have documented healthcare shortages for decades, but are they completely real? If you've ever...
Healthcare on Ice
Today, Michigan is recovering from an ice storm. Health policy committees are canceled, so we have a minute to think about how Lansing “iced” us with inflation and subsidies last term. State legislators helped land us here – and they can help get us out. Inflation...
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