This lengthy research article offers creation science vs. evolutionary perspective from Answers in Genesis.

Clear graphics and exploration of this topic are well worth a full read at the link. Excerpted here for length.

https://answersingenesis.org/biology/disease/bulls-eye-on-borrelia/

Bull’s-Eye on Borrelia: A Commensal and Consequential Pathogen

Ticks and Their Role in Lyme Disease and Alpha-gal

Dr. Alan L. Gillen, Adam Russell, and Zipporah Nedlock    |   July 17, 2026

Abstract
If Lyme disease causes such urgent and chronic disease issues, where do Borrelia bacteria and ticks fit into a very good creation (Genesis 1)? How did bacteria and ticks change to rely on different hosts and blood for survival? And how are these adaptations informing today’s research in bacteriology, immunology, entomology, and disease ecology?

The purposeful placement of Borrelia (Fig. 1) is most likely in the gut of wild mice (Fig. 2), not domesticated mice nor man. The bacteria are communalistic in wild mice, where they may be probiotic for mutual good (Fig. 2)—the Creator made it for good at its rightful pace. But when Borrelia is displaced and outside of wild mice (also called zoonotic spillover), it can cause disease in other animals, from lab mice to dogs to mankind. In a fallen world, it can enter a complex and intricate life cycle (Fig. 3): ticks, mice, deer, dogs, and man. When displaced in men or lab mice, Borrelia can cause significant diseases and become consequential pathogens. Borrelia in the bone causes arthritis, rash, heart problems, and even death. It can also be a persistent pathogen causing chronic disease.

Human, animal, and environmental health are intricately interwoven, inextricably interrelated, and providentially designed. All life on earth is connected by the Creator’s plan. Secular scientists, including those at the CDC, recognize the connection within the biosphere and call it “One Health,” though they do not acknowledge the Creator and a biblical view of the age of the earth and the created rather than evolved design. But we can agree that all three interacting components are connected and that good stewardship recognizes the connectivity of all. The reasoning is that microorganisms (and parasites) circulate among human hosts, animal hosts, and environmental reservoirs. Changes in the environment can lead to the new transmission of pathogens to animals and humans. It might be helpful to visualize three overlapping spheres. A change in any of one of the spheres influences the others as it happens continuously. The mixing of microbes in different animal hosts (displacement) and under different environmental conditions can lead to the adaptation of potentially new pathogens and parasites.

Today, the One Health and original design appear to be “broken.” Ticks may have once been scavengers, but they now can be deadly parasites and vectors of disease. They are increasingly common, and tick-borne diseases are emerging and popping up everywhere this summer. HHS and CDC report that more that there are an estimated 476,000 cases of Lyme disease each year, and the federal government is stepping up action in preventing it (HHS Press, May 29, 2026).

Figure 1+
Figure 1. Borrelia burgdorferi Under Dark-Field Microscope (400x Magnification). The microbe that causes Lyme disease is a thin, corkscrew-shaped spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. Nymph ticks pick up the bacteria while feeding on infected white-footed mice and later transmit it to humans. Due to the thin diameter of the organism, unstained samples best be visualized using dark-field or phase-contrast techniques (CDC Image 6631).

Lyme Disease in the News
According to the CDC (2026), cases of Lyme disease are on the rise; emergency rooms across the world are encountering more infected patients, with the nation suffering the most emergency visits for tick-borne infections since 2017. Furthermore, this data does not even consider visits to urgent care facilities or people who choose not to pursue treatment, especially in emergency rooms. Cases of Lyme span all throughout the US, spiking throughout the Northeast, Midwest, and even the deep South and West Coast. Overall, the percentage of tick bites across the nation is up more than 25% in April 2026 when compared to the previous year (Baumgarth and Hart 2026).

Recent data shows a significant spike in local prevalence. For example, in my (senior author) home (birth) state, Pennsylvania has the highest incidence of Lyme disease, as does much of the Northeast. The number of cases is rising locally in central Virginia and so is awareness of Lyme disease and Alpha-gal syndrome (Milhorne et al. 2026).

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At the low end of the PPACA individual market, Priority Health requested 11.1%.  At the high end of the PPACA individual market, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, Inc. requested 25.5%.  The average request of the ten insurers was 14.2%.

At the low end of the small group market, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Mutual Insurance Company requested 7.0%.  At the high end of the small group market, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, Inc. requested 14.8%.  The average request of the eight insurers was 9.6%.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland expects overall inflation in America to be 2.39% during the next 12 months and 2.44% over the next 24 months.

Michigan health care insurance premium inflation is now running four to six times the general rate of national inflation:

https://www.michigan.gov/difs/-/media/Project/Websites/difs/OIRF/EHB/PDFs/2027_Proposed_Rate_Changes.pdf

https://www.clevelandfed.org/-/media/files/webcharts/inflationexpectations/inflation-expectations.xlsx?sc_lang=en&hash=C27818913D96CEDD80E3136B9946CFA7

https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/inside-mdhhs/newsroom/2026/07/17/rht-chronic-disease

MDHHS seeks applications for the Rural Health Transformation Program Chronic Disease Collaborative Care Fund
By Laina Stebbins - July 17, 2026

• Strengthening partnerships that support rural health transformation.
• Expanding and stabilizing the workforce needed to sustain community wellness.
• Advancing interoperability so providers can share information and coordinate care effectively.
• Developing models that bring essential services closer to where people live.

https://www.michigandaily.com/news/news-briefs/michigan-medicine-ceo-david-miller-will-depart-post-to-lead-vanderbilt-health/

Michigan Medicine CEO David Miller will depart post to lead Vanderbilt Health
By Glenn Hedin - July 15, 2026

Michigan Medicine CEO David Miller will leave his post at the University of Michigan to become the CEO of Vanderbilt Health and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, according to a Michigan Medicine press release posted Wednesday.

Miller has served as Michigan Medicine’s CEO since July 2025 after the resignation of his predecessor Marschall S. Runge, and has been the president of U-M Health since January 2021. He will remain in his post until Dec. 1, 2026, and begin his position at Vanderbilt on Jan. 1, 2027.

Miller’s departure marks the latest episode in a series of leadership shake-ups at the University over the last year, including the University’s ongoing search for a new president, and the resignations of the University’s general counsel and the dean of the College of Engineering. In the press release, University President Domenico Grasso praised Miller for his contributions to the institution.

“David has created a culture of trust, transparency and communication strengthening the entire organization,” Grasso said. “We are deeply grateful for his steadfast leadership, his unwavering commitment to our mission and the countless contributions he has made to our patients, learners, faculty and staff.”

During his tenure, Miller oversaw the construction of the $920 million D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion, as well as the resolution of contentious health insurance and union contract negotiations with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council, respectively. He also presided over Michigan Medicine’s termination of gender-affirming care for patients under the age of 19, which has sparked significant protest and feelings of betrayal among many community members.

In the press release, Miller thanked Michigan Medicine community members for his time at the hospital system.

“This has been one of the most consequential decisions of my career,” Miller wrote. “Michigan Medicine has been far more than my workplace — it has been my professional home. Leaving a community that I care so deeply about is incredibly difficult. I will always be grateful for the privilege of serving alongside such remarkable and committed team members.”

Defeated RINOs and Democrats are making these nominations their political statements, before November 3rd:

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5970727-schwartz-kaufman-cdc-aspr-testimony/

Cassidy, Senate Democrats grill Trump health nominees over vaccine pressures
By Joseph Choi - July 15, 2026

Two of President Trump’s most recent health nominees, including his newest pick to be head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), appeared before the Senate on Wednesday where a reluctance to break with the administration put Democrats and some Republicans on edge.

Erica Schwartz, nominee to be the next director of the CDC; and Sean Kaufman, nominee to head the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR); both appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), where key lawmakers sought out reassurances that both nominees would be able to resist political interference if confirmed.

As a longtime physician and former deputy surgeon general under the first Trump administration, Schwartz represented a more mainstream pick to head the CDC. The agency has gone without steady leadership throughout Trump’s second term, with his second choice — veteran government scientist Susan Monarez — being pushed out of the role less than a month after she was confirmed.

Kaufman, currently a senior adviser for global affairs at the CDC, spent a significant portion of his testimony defending or clarifying past remarks critical of vaccine policy.

With infectious disease concerns abounding domestically, and cases of measles and cyclosporiasis continuing to spread across the country, lawmakers are anxious to get solid leadership into place at the CDC and ASPR. But issues that cast doubt on previous Trump health nominees came up once again on Wednesday.

Cassidy left wanting

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate HELP Committee, made his reservations clear throughout the hearing Wednesday, at various points expressing disappointment and ire with the answers he got from both Schwartz and Kaufman.

Having lost his reelection bid in May, Cassidy was unrestrained from pressures to appease the administration. He made it clear at the start of the hearing that he wanted nominees who could rebuild trust in public health.

Given that Monarez claimed she was fired as CDC director for refusing to grant carte blanche approval to vaccine policy changes without seeing the evidence, Cassidy questioned whether Schwartz would stand up to the administration over policies that she believed would be wrong for public health.

“The one thing that I can tell you is how I lead and how I live, and I have lived and I have led by my integrity,” Schwartz told Cassidy. “I have spent over 25 years in the uniformed services, leading by integrity. That is what I can commit to you and to the committee. That I will continue to live and lead by my integrity. You are a physician. I’m a physician. We both took the Hippocratic oath. For me, the Hippocratic oath meant that I would never harm my patients; their health and wellbeing took primacy.”

Cassidy sought assurance that Schwartz, if confirmed, would retain control over staffing at the CDC, a question that Schwartz wavered over. After several rounds of back-and-forth, the senator said he felt he was “having to go after this question a little bit more firmly” than he felt he should have.

While Schwartz reiterated she would lead with integrity and “never compromise on the science,” Cassidy said her responses were “not quite the direct answer” he’d been hoping for. Schwartz said she had pushed back against her superiors in the past, including when she worked for the U.S. Coast Guard.

In his final remarks to Schwartz, Cassidy said, “We spoke as two doctors, and here I spoke as I felt like you were always trying not to answer my question, which was disappointing.”

Cassidy, a strong proponent of immunizations, including the hepatitis B vaccine in particular, took issue with Kaufman’s past social media post that questioned the need for the hepatitis B infant dose.

In a since-deleted LinkedIn post, Kaufman wrote, “Most parents aren’t letting their babies run around practicing high-risk sexual behaviors or sharing needles. So, what’s the rush? Why is this standard practice in the U.S.?”

Cassidy derided Kaufman’s writing as “either uninformed or deliberately misleading,” slamming his hand on the dais and half-shouting, “Why would you repeat those damn lies?”

Kaufman insisted to Cassidy that he was a believer in vaccines and that he was not trying to link immunizations to autism or allergies, adding that all three of his children had received a birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.

Democrats unmoved

Democrats on the committee sought to determine whether Schwartz would have enough “backbone” to stand up to the administration if needed, seemingly looking for a director who would be unyielding like Monarez.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), ranking member on the HELP Committee, similarly sought to find out whether the nominees would stand up to the president and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if needed. He asked Schwartz if she would tell Congress if the administration asked her to implement policies that were “unscientific and could harm the health and wellbeing of the American people.”

“I do not believe that the president or the secretary would ever do what you just mentioned,” Schwartz responded.

Following up on this line of questioning, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) noted that Monarez had made similar statements during her confirmation hearing, saying she believed Trump would never ask her to break the law.

Kaine said he voted against Monarez at the time because he believed she hadn’t demonstrated enough “backbone” — something he apologized for after she was fired.

“Your answer was almost exactly the same as hers. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get asked to do such a thing,’” Kaine said.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said their questions were not hypothetical given what Monarez had told senators last year and asked Schwartz if she would defy Kennedy if necessary.

Schwartz avoided directly responding to Murray, saying, “I will follow the science wherever it leads, senator. You have my commitment on that.”

Infectious diseases hang heavy over hearing

Members of the committee emphasized the need for strong leadership at both the CDC and the ASPR due to the spread of measles and cyclosporiasis domestically, as well as the massive Ebola outbreak in Africa.

Murray asked Schwartz if she believed there was a scientific or medical justification for the CDC removing cyclosporiasis from its mandatory reporting program last year.

Schwartz said she was unaware of its removal but would look into it if confirmed.

Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) asked Schwartz for her thoughts on the administration’s vaccine policies, including what she characterized as a lack of outreach when it came to measles vaccinations as well as the push to reduce the childhood immunization schedule.

Schwartz told the senator that she would encourage measles vaccinations and would also examine whether changing the childhood immunization schedule, modeling it after Denmark’s, made sense.

Republican Sen. Roger Marshall (Kan.), one of the other physicians on the HELP Committee, asked Kaufman how he would handle another potential epidemic, including if he would commit to giving Americans access to “whatever vaccine” that Kaufman deems “safe and worthy.”

After some back-and-forth, Kaufman said, “Absolutely, 100 percent.”

President Trump has also nominated Sean Slovenski to be the CDC’s CEO, Jennifer Shuford to be the CDC’s chief medical officer, and Sara Brenner to be Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s senior counselor for Public Health.  Their turns in front of Cassidy's firing squad have not yet been scheduled.

All Providers,

Effective January 1, 2027, the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel is deleting the global maternity care CPT codes representative of antepartum, labor and delivery, and postpartum care services (e.g., 59400, 59510, 59620) and transitioning to the reporting of separate CPT codes for services rendered.

The AMA clarified during a June 2026 webinar that current correct coding guidelines require providers to report global codes for routine maternity care services, in most instances, through December 31, 2026. MDHHS will transition to the reporting of separate CPT codes, including the use of evaluation and management (E/M) codes for routine antepartum and postpartum care, for all dates of service occurring on and after January 1, 2027.

A policy bulletin will be published for public comment in September reflecting coding updates for routine maternity care services furnished on and after January 1, 2027. For routine maternity care services provided on and before December 31, 2026, providers are required to adhere to current Medicaid policy as outlined within the MDHHS Medicaid Provider Manual.

Following the money:

1. The AMA gained monopoly power over CPT Codes used for insurance billing. It has a continuous process to update codes, and publishes new manuals every January. With sole publishing rights, AMA sets rates for its many CPT coding products at will. The AMA Store is cagey about posting prices. However, current AI estimates run to $137 for one manual.
2. Michigan requires Medicaid providers to use CPT Codes.
3. This complicates care immeasurably. Remember that time is money; and in healthcare, time is health; as you dip into Michigan's 2,678-page Medicaid Provider Manual for your light reading fix this weekend.
   https://www.mdch.state.mi.us/dch-medicaid/manuals/MedicaidProviderManual.pdf
4. MDHHS educates clinicians on using CPT Codes, thereby promoting this AMA product.

Big picture: CPT is only one of the big three coding systems required in US healthcare.

1. US HHS requires Medicaid providers to use the ICD-10. (ICD-11 is a big global goal with 17,000 more codes. It launched in 2022. So far, we in the US are not requiring it.)
2. ICD coding feeds into an individual Risk Adjustment Factor (RAF) Score for everyone in the Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) system.
3. CMS requires HCPCS Level II coding for supplies, medical equipment, injected or IV drugs, and ambulance services. (HCPCS stands for Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System.)

https://michiganadvance.com/2026/07/14/signatures-submitted-for-lansing-ballot-proposal-on-healthcare-access-one-of-6-in-the-state/

Signatures submitted for Lansing ballot proposal on healthcare access, one of 6 in the state
Funding stream for the group behind the initiative is unclear as they target GOP lawmakers in ballot petition push
By Katherine Dailey - July 14, 2026

Dr. Todd R. Otten, MD, a Lansing family physician, speaking Tuesday at Lansing City Hall after signatures were turned in for a ballot proposal to establish a Citizens’ Advisory Healthcare Action Committee. July 14, 2026 | Submitted photo

A ballot proposal submitted to the Lansing City Clerk’s office would establish a Citizens’ Advisory Healthcare Action Committee in an attempt to combat rising healthcare costs and barriers to care in mid-Michigan and beyond.

A press release from Community Action Michigan, a political committee created in April, said that Lansing voters submitted 7,385 signatures to the Lansing City Clerk last week, above the required minimum of 4,433 signatures to get a proposal on the ballot.

The proposal would direct the committee to “prepare a biennial Healthcare Action Plan and make recommendations to the City, and to provide a public process through which the public will be heard and needs assessed,” including through community forums and analysis of local data and policies, according to ballot language published on the group’s website.

The group held a press conference Tuesday to discuss the proposal and announce that signatures had already been turned into Lansing city officials.

“People who have no health coverage often don’t see a physician until a medical condition becomes a medical crisis,” said Dr. Todd R. Otten, MD, a Lansing family physician. “The emergency department is intended to be a safety net, not the place where a patient first sees a physician. Unfortunately, when this occurs, the care they receive is extraordinarily complex, extremely expensive and sometimes too late.”

Lansing is one of six cities where such a petition is being proposed for November’s ballot. Community Action Michigan has also published similar ballot language in East Lansing, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor and Portage. Local news outlets have reported that signatures have been turned in to local clerks in East Lansing, Kalamazoo and Portage.

“While I have healthcare coverage, my out-of-pocket costs, copays, deductibles and other additional expenses devastated my family financially,” said Dana Watson, a cancer survivor living in East Lansing. “I am not alone and thousands of Michigan families can share similar stories of having to fight insurance companies, Big Pharma and bureaucratic red tape even as they fight to stay alive. I have come to know many Michiganders who work in healthcare and serve as caregivers who cannot afford healthcare themselves.”

Speakers at the press conference, as well as the website for the proposal, explicitly criticized the voting record of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte), who represents both Lansing and East Lansing in Washington, on healthcare affordability and said that Congress had failed to keep healthcare accessible to Michiganders. U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, whose district includes the other four cities with ballot proposals, is also specifically named and targeted by the group’s messaging.

“When politicians like Congressman Tom Barrett voted to cut $1.1 trillion from Medicaid in order to give tax breaks to billionaires, he took healthcare away from many of our neighbors and he’s making the people of Lansing shoulder the burden,” said Oscar Castañeda, a Lansing resident as well as the regional organizing coordinator for MI Poder and a board member of the Ingham County Health Plan. “Our neighborhoods pay the price when sick people don’t get the care they need and deserve for a treatable, manageable condition. Taking healthcare away from people is not a plan; it is an act of sabotage against hardworking families.”

Jason Roe, a spokesperson for the Barrett campaign, criticized the group for what he said was using city charter processes to manipulate voters.

“Typically, these efforts are used to identify voters,” he said. “If they can get a voter to sign onto something like this, then it tends to be an indication that you could persuade a voter on that issue. And so I think more than anything, this is a voter ID project, and they’re just using this to gather data that they can use to retarget voters in the election.”

He also defended Barrett’s voting record on both ending Affordable Care Act tax credits and enacting Medicaid work requirements, saying, “in order to preserve those programs, so that the people that do rely on them can continue to get the benefits that they need, we have to rein in the reckless spending on those people that are not necessarily in need of these programs.”

Oscar Castañeda, a Lansing resident as well as the regional organizing coordinator for MI Poder and a board member of the Ingham County Health Plan, speaking Tuesday at Lansing City Hall after signatures were turned in for a ballot proposal to establish a Citizens’ Advisory Healthcare Action Committee. July 14, 2026 | Submitted photo
The group itself is opaque, having registered in Michigan’s Department of State campaign finance database in late April as both a nonprofit and a political action committee, which Bridge Michigan reported were “hallmarks of so-called ‘dark money’ efforts.” It also made that filing two days after the April campaign finance filing deadline. The next deadline is not until July 25, meaning that there is no information currently published about who is funding the group’s mission.

“Community Action Michigan is a nonprofit made up of Michiganders who want real change and are demanding lower healthcare costs,” Alana Ivey, a spokesperson for the organization wrote in response to a question asking for further information about the group’s backers as well as concerns of dark money in these initiatives. “We are in the process of fundraising for this important effort and will make all required disclosures and file all reports as required by law.”

The only publicly identified individuals associated with the group are Barbara Hammon, who is identified in Tuesday’s press release as the board president of Community Action Michigan and a trustee of Kalamazoo County’s Texas Charter Township, and Heather Ricketts, who is listed as the group’s treasurer in the Department of State database. Ricketts is a political consultant who, according to her LinkedIn profile, currently serves as the compliance and operations director for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Fight Like Hell PAC. The committee is also registered to the same address as is listed for Grow Kalamazoo, a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization promoting a childcare millage in Kalamazoo.

https://mihealthfreedom.org/community/medicaid/hhs-ig-moves-to-defund-nyss-lackadaisical-medicaid-anti-fraud-unit/#post-3111

Fair to say Michigan's leadership doesn't want to be next?

I'd say so.

https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/news/ag-nessel-charges-4-in-federal-healthcare-fraud-sweep

AG Nessel charges 4 in federal healthcare fraud sweep

Detroit outreach worker charged with improperly taking $234K in autism funds

Scott McClallen | July 8, 2026

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced criminal charges against four Michigan individuals in June as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Health Care Fraud Takedown.

The campaign is a nationwide law enforcement action targeting healthcare fraud. In most cases, the defendants are accused of billing taxpayers for goods or services that were never provided.

“Our Health Care Fraud Division works every single day to protect the hard-earned money of Michiganders from Medicaid fraud,” Nessel announced June 23. “They do exceptional work delivering for our residents, and these four cases are no exception. We will continue to protect taxpayer dollars and this vital program.”

The four Michigan cases include:

Wayne White, 63, of Detroit, was charged with three felony counts of larceny by conversion – $20,000 or more, in the 36th District Court in Detroit. Each count carries up to 10 years in prison. Between August 2024 and April 2025, it is alleged White, while working as a part-time community outreach contractor for Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, improperly received more than $234,000 intended for autism services.

Claudia Payne, 47, of Mt. Pleasant, was charged with five felony counts of Medicaid Fraud — False Claim in the 54B District Court in East Lansing. Each count is punishable by up to four years in prison. The state alleges that Payne was paid by Medicaid to provide caretaking services for an elderly disabled man in Mt. Pleasant between October 2023 and November 2024. Despite receiving payment, Payne allegedly failed to provide these services and left the victim severely neglected.

Kurt Hammond, 56, of Ann Arbor, was charged with one count of Medicaid Fraud — False Claim in the 54B District Court in East Lansing. Hammond, a pharmacist at Central Pharmacy located in Lansing from 2020 to 2024, allegedly dispensed and billed for a significant number of female condoms that the pharmacy never acquired from any wholesaler.

John Kempainen, 43, of Oak Park, was charged with six counts of Medicaid Fraud — False Claim in the 54B District Court in East Lansing. Kempainen allegedly billed Medicaid for care he agreed to provide to a vulnerable adult who lived alone in a senior living complex in Oak Park. Kempainen reportedly failed to provide any care for her for at least four months between February 2026 and June 2026, when he was living out of state.

These cases are being handled by the Department of Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division. The cases against Hammond and Kempainen will be prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Dennis Pheney Jr., while Division Chief David Tanay will prosecute the cases against Payne and White.

As part of the federal sweep, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Eastern District of Michigan has also charged seven individuals and extracted a $1.9 million fine from McLaren Health Care Corporation to resolve a False Claims Act lawsuit. Among neighboring states, Illinois saw the highest number of prosecutions, with 16 people charged by the state and two by federal prosecutors. In Indiana, eight people are facing state charges, while Wisconsin saw two people charged by the state and three by the federal government. Eight Ohioans have been charged by the state and one by the Justice Department.

One way to commit healthcare fraud is by abusing programs meant to help people who are on the autism spectrum. From October through January 2025, 10 prepaid inpatient health plans in Michigan cost more than $130 million, according to a March 1, 2025, report. Many of those services are legitimate, but some aren’t.

In June, the state charged a dentist with 43 felony counts of Medicaid fraud for allegedly billing the state for dental procedures she never performed.

The Health Care Fraud Division is the federally certified Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for Michigan, and it receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5.5 million for fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25%, totaling $1.8 million, comes from the state budget.

https://nationalpost.com/news/couple-sues-ontario-surrogate-mother-who-refused-to-abort-fetus

Couple sues Ontario surrogate mother who refused to abort fetus
The surrogate said the fetus had a cleft lip and possible genetic abnormalities, but the couple changed tack as it emerged that the birth defect was relatively minor

A Canadian couple is suing the surrogate mother who carried their son, two years after she refused their request to abort the fetus because of a cleft lip and possible genetic abnormalities.

The Ontario-based surrogate insisted that more tests be conducted and eventually the same-sex couple agreed to let the pregnancy continue, as specialists indicated he was a healthy child with a relatively minor birth defect.

But in a suit filed in Ontario Superior Court this May, the parents allege the woman failed to keep them informed about the health of the baby, put the child at risk, caused them emotional distress and violated their confidentiality, all charges the surrogate denies vehemently.

The statement of claim does not specifically mention their request in June 2024 to terminate the pregnancy at 22 weeks. But both the surrogate and the head of the agency that brought them together say the relationship started to sour after the abortion disagreement.

“That’s when everything changed … they wanted a termination,” said Sally Rhoads-Heinrich, owner of Surrogacy in Canada Online and a pioneer in the field.

The National Post is naming neither the surrogate nor the parents of the young child to protect their privacy, but has viewed the parents’ statement of claim, and the letter requesting the abortion.

Jonathan Lancaster, a Toronto-based lawyer for the couple, said he and his clients were declining to comment.

Tension between the parents and surrogate appears to have been exacerbated after the woman insisted on going ahead with a home birth, and later filed a small-claims suit asking the parents to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses. The expenses dispute has gone to arbitration, but in the meantime the couple served the single mother, a corrections officer, with a full-blown civil suit, handled by Faskens, a powerful Bay Street law firm.

Though the suit does not claim a specific amount of damages, she says the plaintiffs have indicated they’re seeking about $600,000.

“You know I’m a single mom, you know I have a daughter, and you’re basically suing me for my house. It seems very s—ty, it’s just awful,” the resident of Ontario’s Muskoka region said in an interview. “I just feel used … They didn’t get the perfect child they wanted and they threw me away.”

For Rhoads-Heinrich, the unusual sequence of events highlights the vulnerable position of Canadian surrogates, who are in high demand but are legally barred from charging commercial fees – unlike counterparts in the U.S. and some other countries. They can only be reimbursed for receipted expenses. Most get pregnant simply to help others but sometimes fail to get their costs paid or are literally left holding the baby when the parents walk away, she said.

“What I find most difficult in this is they are suing the woman who brought their son to them,” said Rhoads-Heinrich. “How is their son going to feel some day if he learns that?”

Complete bans or restrictions on surrogacy in places like Thailand and India have made Canada – where the surrogate’s health-care costs are covered by medicare – a popular destination for would-be parents, she said.

About 100 families are looking for a surrogate here for every one woman willing to provide the service, she estimates.

“The whole world is coming to Canada,” said Rhoads-Heinrich.

She argues surrogates should be able to charge fees – even if it’s a modest amount that’s proscribed by regulation – to ensure they’re fairly treated.

The federal Assisted Reproduction Act is designed in part to protect surrogates and egg donors by making it illegal to commercialize the human-procreation process, noted Juliet Guichon, a bioethics professor at the University of Calgary. But she said the Ontario surrogate’s case underscores that women who give birth for others, sometimes risking their lives, are still vulnerable, noting that the parents appear to be to punishing the woman for allegedly contravening their agreement.

“Moreover, they earlier sought to end the fetus’s life for a medical condition that … can be completely overcome by surgery and therapy,” Guichon added. Based on what she knows about the case, she says, “The question arises as to whether it is in the best interests of the child to be raised by these people.”

The Ontario woman says she became interested in surrogacy after seeing two close friends face barriers getting pregnant. “I work in an awful place. I see the worst humans in the world and it was like something positive.”

After her profile went up on Surrogacy in Canada Online’s website, she said she almost immediately heard from 50 families wanting her services, some of them even sending flowers to her home. Her extensive screening process narrowed the group down until she eventually settled on the same-sex couple and underwent in-vitro fertilization with embryos from a donor egg and each of their sperm.

Their rapport was positive for the first months of the pregnancy, the woman says, but then in late June of 2024 she told them about an ultrasound that indicated the baby had a cleft lip, possibly a cleft palate and a minor heart defect. The surrogate officiates at high-level international wrestling competitions and was in the Dominican Republic for a tournament soon afterward when she received a legalistically worded letter from the “intended parents.”

“Considering that medical tests indicate that the fetus has, or is likely to have, a genetic, chromosomal or other abnormality or defect, and in accordance with article 8.5 (a) of our surrogacy agreement … we want to inform you of our wish that the pregnancy be terminated,” it said. “Although very difficult, this decision is free and informed.”

Away from home in a developing country and lacking in-person supports, the surrogate said she was “devastated” and a “mess” after receiving the unexpected request.

She said she would have agreed to an abortion if the baby had no chance of survival after birth, but was not comfortable terminating a 22-week fetus with what she considered a largely cosmetic defect. She says the parents came to Toronto, where doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital – which specializes in obstetric care – said the baby had no problems beyond the cleft lip and was generally healthy. The parents agreed to go ahead.

Surrogacy consultant Sally Rhoads-Heinrich: “What I find most difficult in this is they are suing the woman who brought their son to them. How is their son going to feel some day if he learns that?”

Canadian law is clear that a pregnant woman has the final say over whether she has an abortion or not, regardless of what others, including a fellow parent, may tell her to do, said Guichon.

More conflict arose when the mother insisted on keeping to the original plan to have the baby delivered in a private home by midwives, not in a hospital as the parents requested because of the cleft lip. The baby had breathing problems on delivery but soon recovered when the midwives administered oxygen, and called an ambulance to take him to hospital, she says.

The parents took the baby home and for the most part cut off communication with the surrogate, she says. She eventually asked them to reimburse her for about $10,000 in outstanding expenses, including lost income from work during the pregnancy, contributions to her pension plan she missed and transportation costs.

When she heard nothing back after repeated requests, she went to small-claims court, only to learn that their contract required such disagreements to be resolved by arbitration. Then came the parents’ own lawsuit, which raised a number of other issues.

It alleges partly that the surrogate failed to keep them abreast of the fetus’s health, put the baby’s health at risk by negligent behaviour and “failing to follow the (parents’) direction regarding decisions affecting the fetus’s medical care.”

The suit also charges she violated their confidentiality and caused serious emotional distress, with one of the parents unable to work from July 2, 2024 – when the woman said she would not have an abortion – until September 2025.

She said in the interview that she was in fact scrupulous about keeping the parents informed on the fetus’s health, never did anything to endanger the unborn child and kept the couple’s identities out of any outside communication about the pregnancy.

Committee testimony and position card submission for the Michigan House of Representatives will be transitioning to an online submission portal on the House website starting August 3^rd, 2026.

When the notice for the scheduled committee is posted, online portal access for each item on a committee meeting’s agenda will be available. In addition to the submission portal, testimony and position cards will still be accepted in person at the committee meeting.

The implementation of the new portal means that submission of testimony and position cards via email will no longer be accepted beginning August 3^rd, 2026.

As the date approaches, a reminder regarding this transition will be sent, which will include instructions and the link to the new submission portal.