Sen. Runestad: The Left’s Failed Health Ideology Is Hurting Michigan

State Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, is chair of the Michigan GOP and a member of the Senate Committee on Health Policy.  He has had unsatisfactory first hand experiences with Michigan's mediocre health care system:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2025/07/27/runestad-the-lefts-failed-health-ideology-is-hurting-michigan/85354340007/

Runestad: The left’s failed health ideology is hurting Michigan
By Jim Runestad - July 27, 2025

One of the most damaging trends in Michigan — and across the country — is the left’s obsession with forcing social ideology into health care policy, regardless of the consequences.

A clear example is the recent opposition to commonsense Medicaid reforms. Simply requiring able-bodied adults without dependents to work, enroll in school or perform community service 20 hours a week is labeled cruel. That’s nonsense.

Work and structure benefit both individuals and society. These reforms ensure taxpayer dollars go to those who truly need and deserve them, just like welfare reform in the 1990s proved.

Yet the left’s rhetoric doesn’t match reality. Their version of “health equity” has led to glaring disparities between rural and urban communities. Democrats continue to push systems designed not to improve access or outcomes for everyone, but to deliver results for politically favored groups — even at the expense of others.

It’s time to fix this broken system and deliver real health care access to every corner of Michigan, the author writes.
Look no further than their COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Instead of prioritizing seniors, frontline workers or those with medical vulnerabilities, they used the Social Vulnerability Index, prioritizing based on race, housing and unemployment; not simple data-backed health risks.

The results were concerning. For example, in Washtenaw County, 237 per 1,000 residents received vaccines early on compared to just 90 per 1,000 in Macomb County. That means seniors in Macomb were two to three times less likely to get vaccinated than those living in Ann Arbor.

This wasn’t just a data failure — it cost lives. Even frontline workers and nursing home residents were denied access while vaccines were sent to low-risk areas based on nonsensical social vulnerability scoring.

This is what happens when identity politics override real public health needs.

Worse yet is how Michigan’s current Democrat-led bureaucracy determines whether an area is “medically underserved.” Instead of measuring actual physical accessibility — like proximity to providers — they use abstract formulas based on infant mortality and poverty rates. These indicators speak to the quality of care but not access to it. Without reliable access, quality means nothing. A great doctor doesn’t help someone who can’t reach them.

Take a look at the federal formula used to define a Medically Underserved Area, which maxes out at 100 points, broken down as follows — a score of 62 or less qualifies as underserved:

Michigan’s health care funding must prioritize access, especially in rural areas, the author writes.

*    Provider-to-population ratio (28.7 points).
*    Percent at 100% federal poverty level (25.1 points).
*    Population age 65 and older (20.2 points).
*    Infant mortality rate (26 points).

The reality, however, is that this system underrepresents rural health challenges. While urban areas may struggle with quality, rural areas are simply lacking care, period.

For every 10,000 individuals, rural Michiganians average only nine nurses compared to 15 in metropolitan areas. Among professional physicians, this disparity is even worse, with 15 per 10,000 in rural areas compared to 42 in urban areas. This imbalance is glaring.

Despite this, Democrats funnel health care dollars into urban centers while rural communities fall further behind. That’s indefensible.

Michigan’s rural residents are more likely to die from cancer, heart disease and respiratory illness not because they get sick more often, but because they simply can’t get treated.

Michigan’s health care funding must prioritize access, especially in rural areas. Democrats might claim to be a party of health care for all, but their policies prove otherwise.

It’s time Republicans lead. It’s time to fix this broken system and deliver real health care access to every corner of Michigan.

It should be noted that Senator Runestad was the 2024 recipient of MHF's Defender Award for standing against woke policies.