The MHA announced the 2023 winner of its highest achievement award June 29 during the association’s Annual Membership Meeting. Receiving the award for her decades of leadership in elected office supporting healthcare is U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing).
Stabenow’s history as a healthcare champion includes support for a variety of healthcare issues, including the MI Child program, community health centers, Medicare, expansion of mental and behavioral health services, rural health initiatives and ensuring healthcare providers had the resources they needed to care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Children’s Health Insurance Program, known in Michigan as MI Child, provides low-cost health coverage to 9.6 million children throughout the country in families that earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid. Senator Stabenow is also committed to bringing veterans the care they need close to home, having led the fight to open new and expanded V.A. clinics across the state.
Stabenow was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000, following her service as an elected official in the U.S. House of Representatives, Michigan Legislature and in county-level politics. Stabenow announced Jan. 5 that she will not seek an additional term in the U.S. Senate.