Author: Dr. Jonathan Kenigson, FRSA

Nearly 3 million Michigan residents, including 961,000 children, rely on Medicaid services for their healthcare needs. The Michigan Medicaid expansion, particularly through the Healthy Michigan Plan, has successfully reduced uninsurance rates to as low as 6% in some areas by 2020. However, proposed changes to Medicaid funding threaten to create a $1.73 billion gap in the state’s healthcare system as soon as next year. The impact of these potential cuts would be particularly severe in rural communities, where approximately 37.3% of children depend on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for healthcare coverage. As the single largest payer…