Updates About Public Health

The Michigan Senate Appropriations Health and Human Services Subcommittee advanced its version of the FY 2026 DHHS budget last week at $39.31 billion, coming in slightly higher than the Governor’s proposed $39.15 billion recommendation. Chair Sylvia Santana’s (D-Detroit) objectives include improving health outcomes for families while protecting essential services and preparing for potential decreases in federal Medicaid support.

Key Senate additions include $58 million for expanding Flint’s Rx Kids program, $13 million for water affordability initiatives, and $10 million for reproductive health access grants. The Senate also proposed smaller increases to Medicaid eligibility than Whitmer’s plan. The budget did not include funding for building a state psychiatric hospital in Northville or for health care services for incarcerated individuals prior to release. It also failed to include several items funded by opioid settlement dollars that were proposed in the Governor’s executive recommendation. However, the Senate added funding in areas such as permanent supportive housing, reproductive health access grants, children’s advocacy centers, non-clinical direct care worker pay, and medical debt relief.

Senator Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) has proposed a $1 million allocation for a new “Statewide Fentanyl Enforcement” initiative in the Michigan State Police budget for Fiscal Year 2026. The funding would bolster the department’s existing task force operations, which collaborate with other agencies to identify and prosecute fentanyl traffickers across the state. Hertel noted the investment is a direct response to the increasing impact of fentanyl in Michigan communities.

As the Senate Appropriations Military, Veterans and State Police Subcommittee Chair, Hertel believes the appropriation would provide resources to help MSP and its partners identify fentanyl sources, disrupt distribution networks, and hold traffickers accountable. The subcommittee approved the broader FY 2026 State Police budget, which includes this allocation, on a 2-0 vote.

Michigan is seeing a significant rise in measles and whooping cough cases as childhood vaccination rates decline. In 2024, the state reported over 2,000 cases of whooping cough—a major increase from the previous year—with nearly 700 cases already confirmed in 2025, including more than 100 cases in infants under 2. The state has also seen its first measles outbreak since 2019, totaling nine cases so far.

Vaccination rates for both diseases remain well below recommended thresholds, with only 79% of Michigan children vaccinated against measles and 71% receiving four or more doses of the DTaP vaccine, down from 85% and 77% respectively in 2020. Health officials attribute the resurgence of these preventable diseases to declining immunization rates and increased vaccine hesitancy noticed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Receive updates on the Michigan Measles outbreak in the MDHHS Measles Dashboard.