State Medicaid: 2026 budget wars

Tips for reading government agency press releases:

• government's role is to secure rights of life, liberty, and property;
• those nearest to a need are best qualified to meet it (almost never is this government);
• if a service exists in the private sector, government shouldn't be doing it (for example: banking, insurance, job creation); and,
• government produces nothing; it can only give what it takes.

Today's MDHHS email and press release.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/inside-mdhhs/newsroom/2025/09/16/budget-statement

MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel on House Republican budget

LANSING, Mich. – Today, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Elizabeth Hertel released the following statement in response to the House Republicans’ budget proposal.

The proposed House budget, which cuts $4.95 billion from MDHHS, would drastically impact our ability to protect the health, safety and prosperity of Michigan families.

The House budget eliminates more than 1,600 positions. This means:

• Less child protective services workers keeping kids safe by investigating abuse and neglect complaints.
• Fewer benefits specialists helping connect families to food assistance, health benefits and other resources.
• Fewer disease specialists responding to public health threats and protecting families.
• Less staff conducting fraud, waste and abuse investigations to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent properly.

The House budget would result in significant service reductions to Michigan’s 10 million residents through loss of programs. This includes:

• $20 million in adult dental coverage.
• $10 million to help hospitals improve maternal health care and outcomes.
• $7 million for Office of Community Violence, which would eliminate the office created to lead statewide efforts to reduce gun violence and save lives.
• $4 million to address homelessness.

The House budget slashes funding to the state psychiatric hospitals by $6.8 million, including cuts to staffing, medical services and necessary facility maintenance. It also fails to appropriate funding for additional staffing needed to operate the new Southeast Michigan Psychiatric Hospital in Northville, which is slated to open in 2026. This would affect vital behavioral health services and reduce the number of patients the state can care for at its hospitals, further increasing wait times and impeding progress addressing the behavioral health crisis facing the state.

One-third of small town and rural Michigan residents are covered by Medicaid, and the proposed budget would result in the loss of health coverage for thousands of individuals in rural communities. As families will still need health care services, this would force hospitals and other local safety nets to absorb the costs of caring for those who have lost coverage and face potential closure as they struggle to maintain services.

MDHHS urges our state legislators to continue funding to the department’s budget in order to serve Michigan families.

# # #

And today, DIFS' email/presser:

https://www.michigan.gov/difs/news-and-outreach/press-releases/2025/09/18/difs-director-anita-fox-on-house-republican-budget

DIFS Director Anita Fox on House Republican Budget

Media Contact: DIFS-press@michigan.gov
Consumer Hotline: 877-999-6442, Michigan.gov/DIFScomplaints

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 18, 2025

(LANSING, MICH) Today, Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) Director Anita Fox released the following statement in response to the Michigan House Republicans’ budget proposal.

“The budget passed by House Republicans undermines DIFS’ critical mission to protect consumers and ensure that Michigan’s insurance and financial services industries are safe, sound, and entitled to public confidence.

“DIFS serves as a consumer protection agency and our dedicated employees assist Michiganders every day with questions and concerns they may have about insurance and financial services. Despite the fact that DIFS is completely fee-funded and does not rely on tax dollars, this budget cuts department staff, directly impeding DIFS’ ability to assist Michiganders and promises longer wait times for licenses, examinations, and other services the department provides to Michigan businesses.”

Potential impacts from the House-passed budget include:

A reduction in the department’s ability to help support consumers with complaints or questions related to their insurance or financial services. DIFS’ complaint process helps Michiganders navigate issues with insurance agents, insurance companies, banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, and other financial institutions without having to go through the expense and uncertainty of legal proceeding.
Significant proposed staffing cuts that will impede the department’s ability to regulate and examine Michigan's insurance and financial services industries to ensure the financial stability of banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and other financial entities.
Delayed support for Michigan businesses and individuals who rely on DIFS for the processing of licenses, review of transactions, and other regulatory functions.
DIFS ensures safe and secure access to insurance and financial services for all Michiganders while ensuring consumers are treated fairly and their money is safeguarded. DIFS also licenses insurance agents, insurance companies, state-chartered banks and credit unions, and other financial services companies. Our regulatory oversight is in place to ensure all Michiganders have safe and trustworthy options when looking to do business with insurance and financial services institutions. This proposed budget compromises our ability to serve Michiganders and companies that rely on DIFS.

####

Freedom lost in Michigan's final budget decision. Especially healthcare freedom. If this displeases you, talk to your elected state officials! They are all responsible for this.

Your talking points:
The best effort to date to eliminate DEI, Implicit Bias Training, and a fair amount of wokism from our state government disappeared entirely.

In its place, an additional 200 pages of who knows what. 

House Fiscal Agency's 234-page analysis of the changes.

Today's MDHHS email clearly shows the role of Medicaid in negotiations. The statement is not yet available as a press link.

MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel issues statement on passage of FY26 budget

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Elizabeth Hertel issued the following statement on the passage of the balanced and bipartisan FY2026 budget.

“The fiscal year 2026 budget will allow the dedicated staff of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to continue its critical work of protecting the health, safety and prosperity of Michigan families,” said Hertel. “I appreciate the work of Governor Whitmer and the Legislature to pass a balanced and bipartisan budget that helps us sustain the vital Medicaid services our friends, family and neighbors rely on every day; enables us to upgrade the security of EBT cards used by Michigan families to put food on the table and expands Family Impact Teams statewide – a program that embeds family resource specialists with child protective services to help connect families in need with benefits such as food assistance, housing and health care.”

Key items included in the MDHHS budget include:

$131.75 million for substance use disorder prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services through the Opioid Healing and Recovery Fund. These investments are part of a statewide strategy designed to save lives and reduce overdose deaths.

$9.3 billion for provider tax revenue that helps sustain Medicaid services including well child visits, prenatal care, psychiatric counseling, substance use disorder treatment and chemotherapy.

$30 million for Food Assistance Reinvestment to help reduce SNAP error rates. This funding will allow the department to continue making significant strides to reduce its payment error rate.

$26.2 million for a statewide expansion of the Family Impact Teams, an innovative program that helps keep children at risk of neglect safely in their homes by delivering services and assistance to families such as food and housing assistance, Medicaid programs and other basic needs.

$16 million to transition to EBT chip cards for the SNAP program to reduce incidences of stolen benefits through card cloning and skimming.

$3.1 million to reduce community violence and support efforts of the Office of Community Violence, which leads statewide efforts to reduce gun violence and save lives.

$5.1 million to improve access to behavioral health care where, when and at the level people need it by supporting the continuation and stabilization of behavioral health services across Michigan communities. These resources will help sustain access to critical mental health and substance use disorder supports, particularly in underserved areas, and give us the flexibility to address emerging needs.

# # #