Is Muskegon rural?

Never mind the very urban nature of the City of Muskegon, or the 15 neighborhoods it lists on the city website. If your answer is, "Who wants it to be?" you're getting close. But if you said, "Is there money in being rural?" go to the head of the class, because you obviously understand the Lansing health policy game better than most. 

Possibly better than WZZM 13, in fact, given the slant of its reporting here. Kudos to the hard-working journalist however, for including all those bill links. 

Non-health-related bill segments and photos clipped here due to length. All are worth the read.

https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/politics/michigan-politics/michigan-governor-gretchen-whitmer-signs-bills-into-law-tuesday/69-c2560095-4b97-4f96-93db-ca652353e4d4

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signs 17 bills into law Tuesday

The bills ranged from hospital funding to unionizing of an often overlooked sector of the health care industry.

The bills ranged from hospital funding to the unionizing of an often overlooked sector of the healthcare industry.

“These bills will make a real difference in people’s lives by expanding access to healthcare, protecting workers’ rights, and putting money back in Michiganders’ pockets,” said Gov. Whitmer. “From ensuring 35,000 home care workers can bargain for better pay and benefits to ensuring every Michigander can access quality healthcare regardless of their zip code, let’s keep working together to make sure that everyone can make it in Michigan.”

Senate Bills 790 and 791 are designed to allow individual home help caregivers in Michigan to unionize and participate in collective bargaining. Senate Bill 790 achieves this by categorizing individual home help caregivers as public employees of the director of the Department of Health and Human Services for the sole purpose of collective bargaining. The two bills passed strictly on party lines in both the House and Senate.

Senate Bill 701 aims to expand health care access in rural Michigan through amending restrictions on the funding Michigan hospitals receive from the state. The bill hopes to achieve that by changing the definition of what a rural hospital is to include counties with 195,000 people or less and providing more funding to those hospitals. The new definition of a rural hospital will add Muskegon County into the rural hospital pool. The bill passed with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

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Senate Bill 351 prohibits discriminatory practices in public places against breastfeeding and breast pumping. The bill passed with mostly bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

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Senate Bill 928 aims to expand Medicaid coverage of birth expenses by eliminating a clause that denies coverage under certain circumstances. Lawmakers backing the bill estimated that about 66,000 births could now receive full coverage of birth expenses. The bill passed along party lines in both the House and Senate.

Senate Bill 929 aims to allow low-income Michiganders access to a broader range of care centers by repurposing Medicaid funding. The bill passed along party lines in both the House and Senate.

Senate Bill 932 will increase access to the state's Family Independence Program for Michigan families by increasing the time a family can use the program from 48 months to 60 months. The bill passed along party lines in both the House and Senate.

Senate Bill 935 repeals a section of The Social Welfare Act of 1939 that required reimbursement to counties for the cost of juvenile justice services. The fund used was known as the "Raise the Age Fund" and was part of a "Raise the Age" legislative package that ensured children under the age of 17 were placed in juvenile correctional facilities. The bills were passed mostly along party lines in both the House and Senate.

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For the interested, a forum search will turn up additional details on most if not all of these bill topics.