Nessel sues HHS over $379M in terminated public health grants promised to Michigan
Washington — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 23 other states to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over its termination of $11 billion in public health grants, including 20 grants in Michigan totaling $379 million, officials said.
The affected Michigan grants include mental health and substance abuse grants, as well as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants intended to track and address infectious disease control and vaccinations for children and vulnerable adults, Nessel's office said.
“The Trump administration is now terminating millions in grants being used in our state to support vaccine clinics for kids, crisis mental health services, opioid abuse intervention, and to control disease spread in healthcare facilities,” Nessel said Tuesday in a statement.
“And once again they’re breaking the law to take money that has been granted to the states. These programs keep Michigan healthy and, in some cases, help save lives, and that’s worth standing up and fighting for.”
Nessel's office claimed the grant cancellations are causing "chaos" for state health agencies that rely on the funding for purposes including infectious disease management, help with emergency preparedness and providing mental health and substance abuse services.
Among the affected agencies are the Detroit Health Department, CMH Partnership of Southeast Michigan, the Detroit-Wayne Mental Health Authority, Michigan State University, the Wayne County Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services and Wayne State University.
The affected CDC grants in Michigan were to cover the immunization and vaccination of children and were being used for vaccine ordering and storage, the hosting of vaccine clinics, and supporting translation services for vaccination information to non-English speaking parents and patients, Nessel's office said.
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The state was due a balance of $49 million toward these awards and intended to use part of these funds to provide routine immunizations and immunizations against seasonal respiratory viruses to kids, adults and vulnerable and underserved populations, according to the AG's office.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it received notice from the federal Department of Health and Human Services terminating some remaining CDC and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grants and cooperative agreements.
"We are working with our affected subgrantees and have advised them to hold on spending any unobligated funds, while we review possible reductions in funding and evaluate next steps," MDHHS spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin said in an email.
"MDHHS is appealing through the administrative process and exploring legal options in consultation with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office to address these federal funding cuts and allow important pandemic recovery and preparedness work to continue."
Nessel's office said other CDC funding was being used to pay for infectious disease laboratory upgrades statewide, "without which the MDHHS’s and local health departments’ capacity to respond to healthcare-associated infections in healthcare facilities is effectively eliminated."
The canceled mental health grant for Michigan was to help with services for individuals suffering serious mental illness or severe emotional disturbances, including children's services. The terminated substance abuse grant was to boost services for underserved and marginalized populations, including pregnant women, women with young children, opioid users and rural populations, officials said.
The other states who sued alongside Michigan included Colorado, Rhode Island, California, Minnesota, Washington state, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
mburke@detroitnews.com
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Nessel sues HHS over $379M in terminated public health grants promised to Michigan
