U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) says she’s requesting federal funding for two mid-Michigan health care projects as part of the 2026 federal budget. She says the proposals aim to expand addiction recovery services, improve care for veterans, and increase access to treatment in rural communities.
The funding requests are part of McDonald Rivet’s Community Project Funding Initiative, a program that allows members of Congress to advocate for specific local projects in the federal budget.
She’s supporting proposals from Ten16 Recovery Network and Central Michigan University, one to add residential recovery capacity in Midland County, and another to deliver mobile medical simulation training to Department of Veterans Affairs clinics across the state.
The initiative comes amid growing concern over health disparities in rural Michigan and among veterans. According to former Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, veterans are twice as likely to die from an opioid overdose than civilians.
In Midland County, the Ten16 Recovery Network proposal would renovate an existing farmhouse into a new women’s recovery residence and build a multi-purpose activity center on its campus.
“This allows them to come stay in this safe and sober environment with some support of other people who are pursuing the same goals,” said Sam Price, president and CEO of Ten16. “To be able to just really get grounded in their recovery before they kind of transition back into independent living so they can stay in that facility.”
The house would add seven new beds. Ten16 currently operates a seven-bed women’s recovery house and a 13-bed men’s house in Midland, often with a waitlist. Price said many women are forced to return to unsafe environments while waiting for space.
“With that kind of ongoing demand and knowing that a lot of times people really are in these vulnerable positions when they're early in their recovery,” Price said. “And oftentimes, if they're leaving a residential program and kind of returning to where they had been, sometimes that's not necessarily a safe place for them to be.”
The multi-purpose center would include a half-court gym to support recreational therapy, host family visitations and accommodate large support group meetings, including 12-step fellowships.
“The addition of that to our campus will really allow us to keep people engaged longer and help improve the quality of their experience with us,” Price said. “We're going to be able to serve more people on long term because it allows us to use our space more efficiently and more effectively.”
The second proposal in the initiative supports Central Michigan University’s plan to acquire a mobile medical simulation vehicle. The vehicle would provide hands-on training to staff at VA facilities across the state, including the Saginaw VA, with a focus on rural access.
“Congresswoman McDonald Rivet’s advocacy for this project will significantly enhance health care for veterans and rural communities,” said Dr. Steve Vance, associate dean of clinical education at CMU’s College of Medicine. “The introduction of a state-of-the-art mobile simulation facility would allow us to travel across the region, delivering impactful medical training to providers directly within the communities they serve.”
McDonald Rivet is also backing several federal health care bills, including legislation to improve transparency in prescription drug pricing, expand maternal health services in underserved communities and allow occupational and physical therapists to assess fall risks under Medicare.
“These projects break down barriers many rural communities face in getting the care they need and deserve,” McDonald Rivet said in a press release.
But even as local efforts aim to expand care, some health leaders are worried about national policy changes that could undermine access, particularly for residents who rely on Medicaid and Healthy Michigan coverage.
Under proposals backed by President Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers have proposed imposing work requirements and reducing federal funding for Medicaid expansion programs. The changes are aimed at lowering federal spending, encouraging personal responsibility and reducing long-term dependence on public assistance.
U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin said the proposed work requirements would likely lead to coverage loss, especially for low-income and rural residents facing barriers with consistent employment, transportation or child care.
“They’re making them sign up every six months so that people forget, people get busy and they lapse, and they get off of Medicaid,” Slotkin said in a recent interview with WDET. “For Michigan, it would have a dramatic impact.”
Price said cutting those supports would mean fewer people accessing treatment.
"For our organization, Medicaid is probably the largest funder of our care,” Price said. “Most people we are working with have lost it all because of their addiction... many of the folks that we work with also have a mental health condition, and that support is funded through Medicaid. Many of them also have co-occurring medical conditions and that is covered by Medicaid.”
Ten16 has already seen the impact of Medicaid disenrollment following the end of pandemic-era protections. Nearly a million Michiganders lost coverage, contributing to a drop in statewide substance use treatment admissions, from about 67,000 in 2023 to 63,000 in 2024.
“That gives you just a little picture of what could happen if this federal legislation is passed,” Price said.
He called the possibility of the proposed cuts taking effect “certainly scary.”
