LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Some Lansing lawmakers are blasting the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), saying the department is stacking the deck against rural communities.

MDHHS labels Wayne and Oakland Counties as “rural.”

MDHHS officials submitted a proposal to the federal government that pits sparsely populated Northern Michigan and Upper Peninsula counties against metro giants like Wayne and Oakland in what one GOP lawmaker called a “poorly prepared application” for limited federal rural healthcare dollars. Those funds are part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 which provides $50 billion over five years to strengthen rural healthcare. Despite ranking among the top ten states in rural population, Michigan received just $173.1 million. That places the Great Lakes State in the bottom ten nationwide.

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State Rep. Parker Fairbairn (R-Harbor Springs) spoke on The Steve Gruber Show on Wednesday, saying the proposal is “very bad for this state.” He told Gruber those rural dollars are “crucial to Northern Michigan and the U.P.” Rep. Fairbairn added, “Those dollars would go a long way with our hospitals and clinics up here. For a county like Wayne that has the highest population in Michigan to even claim they’re partially rural is totally ridiculous.”

Fairbairn also has a personal stake in how the dollars are spent, just like his constituents. “My wife and I are expecting [our first] baby,” Rep. Fairbairn said. “In the U.P. there’s areas where you have to travel an hour-and-a-half to two hours to get to these birthing centers.”

A “deeply flawed proposal.”

Another Northern Michigan lawmaker, Rep. Dave Prestin (R-Cedar River) also slammed what he said a “deeply flawed proposal by MDHHS.

“If Lansing bureaucrats are prepared to label Detroit as ‘rural,’ then the state has effectively abandoned any meaningful definition of rural life,” said Prestin. “If Greektown now meets the definition of country, Delta County must be considered rugged wilderness. Once again, rural Michigan – and especially the Upper Peninsula – is shoved aside by Lansing bureaucrats.”

So is rural Michigan without a remedy? Not yet. Rep. Fairbairn called on local health officials to apply for appointment to the Michigan Rural Health Transformation Advisory Council (RHT). He said it plays a key role in the future distribution of  future RHT program funds. More information can be found here.