Ann Arbor
Michigan health projects get more than $15 million
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says two southeastern Michigan projects will get more than $15 million in funding to improve health care.
The funding was announced Tuesday by Congressman John Dingell of Michigan.
The Ann Arbor-based Altarum Institute will get nearly $9.4 million in funding for the Reducing the Burden of Childhood Dental Disease Program. The University of Michigan will get nearly $6.4 million for the Michigan Surgical and Health Optimization Program.
The funding was authorized under the Affordable Care Act to improve the delivery of health care services under Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Lansing
Judge awards $5 million in lawsuit against midwife
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Lansing-area couple has been awarded $5 million in a lawsuit three years after their baby died following a botched breech delivery at a birthing center.
Ingham County Circuit Judge Clinton Canady ordered former nurse midwife Clarice Winkler to pay Sara and Jarad Snyder damages in the 2011 death of their son, Magnus.
The Snyders’ lawyer, Brian McKeen, tells the Lansing State Journal it’s unlikely his clients will collect any money because Winkler didn’t carry malpractice insurance.
McKeen says Canady’s ruling is a hollow victory because it’s a default judgment, meaning Winkler failed to respond to the allegations so the couple didn’t get a chance to confront her in court.
Winkler declined comment. She was found negligent by the state’s Nursing Board and has surrendered her license to practice.
Lansing
House committee approves $8.50 an hour wage bill
LANSING, Mich. (AP) â?? A House panel is supporting legislation to raise the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour after the Senate passed a $9.20 per hour plan.
The revised House measure passed out of committee Tuesday and would raise the minimum wage from $7.40 by 2017. It also eliminates a provision in the original bill tying the minimum wage to inflation.
The bill now goes to the House for consideration, where it’s likely to face opposition from Democrats who support inflation indexing and a higher minimum wage.
The bill would raise the tipped employee wage to $3.23 an hour from $2.65, instead of the Senate’s $3.50 target.
Government Operations Chairman Rep. Pete Lund of Shelby Township says the bill “will help people who are at the minimum wage level but not cost jobs.”
