Michigan SoS Benson Calls For Mandatory Bias Training As Gubernatorial Candidate

The Michigan 2026 primary election will be held on August 4th.  The Michigan 2026 general election will be held on November 3rd.

Frontrunning Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson released her affordability plan yesterday which will require mandatory bias training for maternal health care providers, and has other health care related provisions:

https://www.themidwesterner.news/2026/01/jocelyn-bensons-proposed-health-care-plan-requires-mandatory-bias-training/

https://www.michigan.gov/sos/-/media/Project/Websites/sos/Election-Administrators/Election-Dates.pdf

Jocelyn Benson’s proposed health care plan requires ‘mandatory bias training’
Comes after House passed bill to repeal existing Whitmer regs
By Travers Koory | January 8, 2026

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson released a 2026 “affordability” plan on Thursday that would require “mandatory bias training” for maternal health care providers, provide $5,000 caregiver tax credits, and other measures for families and older residents.

The plan, Benson wrote, is designed to “address the Black maternal health crisis by investing in culturally competent care, Medicaid-covered doula and midwife services, mandatory bias training for maternal healthcare providers, and better access to life-saving prenatal and postpartum care, so every Michigan mother has the support she needs, regardless of race or income.”

The debate over bias training intensified in December, when House Republicans approved legislation to end mandatory implicit bias training for health care workers enacted through executive order by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. Supporters of the bill cited concerns about regulatory overreach, limited evidence of effectiveness, and the added burden on providers.

The legislation, House Bill 4915, is now in the Senate Committee on Regulatory Affairs that’s controlled by Democrats. The current requirement involves two hours of training, and applies to more than 400,000 licensed professionals across over two dozen health fields, including doctors, nurses, dentists, psychologists, and other healthcare professionals.

Despite Whitmer’s mandate, racial health disparities persist in Michigan, with Black Michiganders continuing to experience higher maternal and infant mortality rates and worse overall health outcomes.

In April, Grand Rapids dentist Kent Wildern sued Whitmer’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs over the mandatory training, alleging LARA bypassed public debate and legislative oversight to impose the training through its rulemaking process, exceeding its statutory authority.

“Rather than remain within the constraints placed upon it by the legislature, LARA promulgated Rule 338.4004 at the Governor’s direction in order to implement ideologically imbued public health policy that no statute has authorized,” according to the lawsuit.

While the governor claims the mandate is designed to raise awareness about implicit racial biases in the healthcare industry, the nonprofit Do No Harm has highlighted some professionals in Michigan who have been fined $1,500 for failing to comply.

Do No Harm, which is devoted to fighting “the radical ideology of ‘anti-racism’ in healthcare,” suggests Michigan’s mandate is “creating new barriers and bad practices that are endangering the health and well-being of everyone – including the people it claims to help.”

Beyond the bias training, Benson’s health care plan includes a $5,000 caregiver tax credit, a measure first championed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. According to the plan, the credit is intended to help families offset the financial burden of caring for aging or disabled relatives.

As Michigan’s population ages, the credit would provide support to both residents in need of care and their family members, according to Benson’s proposal, which does not include details on how the credit would be funded, who would qualify, or how it would be coordinated with existing state programs.

The Secretary of State’s broader affordability agenda also focuses on access and transparency in the health care system.

Benson, who in her current role as Secretary of State is effectively overseeing her own election for governor, wants hospitals to provide upfront pricing for medical procedures, and to reform insurance practices that limit coverage for prescribed care.

Her plan would expand mobile health services in rural areas, as well as initiatives to strengthen the health care workforce, including recruitment and training for medical professionals. Medicaid coverage for doulas and midwives is included, along with culturally competent care training, as part of a broader equity-focused agenda aimed at addressing disparities in maternal and other health outcomes.

Benson’s priorities for healthcare largely mirror the approach promoted by Whitmer, who said in 2020 “evidence shows that training in implicit bias can make a positive difference.”

A Commonwealth Fund State Health Disparities Report released four years later ranked Michigan 29th out of 39 states analyzed for health care received by Black residents.

When Whitmer took office, The Commonwealth Fund’s 2019 scorecard ranked the state 26th out of 51 states and the District of Columbia for health care disparities, suggesting things have gone from bad to worse for Black Michiganders during her tenure.

The 2024 report shows health system performance for white residents was also “worse than average,” while the best performance in Michigan was for Asian Americans/Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, which scored in the 84th percentile among population groups in the U.S., the Detroit Free Press reports.

“Compared to other states in the Great Lakes region, Michigan has more severe racial and ethnic health disparities,” the report read.

Michigan has one of the highest rates nationally for premature deaths from avoidable causes for Black residents at 647.8 per 100,000, behind only Mississippi, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, according to the 2024 report.

Michigan also has the second highest rate of Black Medicare beneficiaries admitted to a hospital for conditions “that can typically be managed through good primary care,” according to The Commonwealth Fund. That rate was 65.7 per 1,000 Black Medicare beneficiaries. Only Indiana’s rate of 75.2 per 1,000 was higher.