Michigan Department of Health and Human Services photo Susan J. Demas

LANSING — Two and a half months before the state’s budget deadline, members of the Republican-led Michigan House of Representatives unleashed a flurry of budget proposals from their respective subcommittees, including a three-part plan to fund the Department of Health and Human Services.

With the department making up nearly half of the state budget, members of the Michigan House split its budget across three appropriations subcommittees, centered on Medicaid and behavioral health, public health, and human services.

In her executive budget recommendation, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer allocated $1.5 billion for public health programs, $6.9 billion to human services and $32.5 billion for Medicaid and behavioral health programs.

The proposals advanced by the House subcommittees on Thursday set aside $1.13 billion to public health, $6.6 billion to human services and $22.9 billion for Medicaid and behavioral health.

Overall, the House’s Department of Health and Human Services budget totals nearly $31 billion, $10 billion less than the governor’s proposal but almost $1 billion more than what was appropriated for the 2026 fiscal year.

While presenting Whitmer’s budget recommendations in February, state budget officials warned that the state is facing a $1.8 billion gap in funding, driven by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, rising health care costs and declines in revenue.

In order to fill part of that gap, Whitmer proposed $780.4 million in new revenue to support Medicaid, stemming from increasing taxes on cigarettes, instituting a 57% wholesale tax on vape products, increasing taxes on online and sports gaming and instituting a 4.7% tax on digital advertising. The House did not include that funding in its own proposal.

Following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, the state’s health department is tasked with implementing work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP, with Whitmer requesting 589 additional employees to provide administrative support and address increased casework.

The House subcommittee’s proposal would provide 150 employees and $22.5 million in funding, where Whitmer requested $104 million. The budgets put forth by the subcommittees include several regulations and reporting mechanisms focused on determining eligibility for SNAP and Medicaid.

Alongside the work requirements, the legislation would require the state to conduct monthly data matches with other state agencies and federal databases to determine SNAP eligibility.

It also requires the department to use Michigan Bridge Card data to flag individuals who have exclusively made purchases out of state for 60 days and confirm whether they are still a Michigan resident within 30 days. Nonresidents and individuals who do not respond would be considered ineligible for benefits, and would have their case referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The subcommittees’ budget also instructs the department to seek a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to bar individuals on SNAP from using their benefits to purchase soda and candy.

For Medicaid, Thursday’s proposal bars individuals from self-attesting for certain eligibility requirements, and institutes a verification process to prevent multistate enrollment.

The House would also require a semiannual review of state and federal death records to identify Medicaid recipients who may be deceased, as well as a report on erroneous Medicaid payments, due Oct. 1, the start of the 2027 Fiscal Year.

Additionally, family planning service providers that provide reproductive health services and abortion care and receive more than $800,000 in Medicaid expenditures in Fiscal Year 2023 would no longer be eligible to participate in Michigan Medicaid.

Further boilerplate language bars the Department of Health and Human Services from using state or federal funds to provide services to noncitizens. It also blocks the department from using state funds on diversity, equity and inclusion programming.

The budget also includes boilerplate language requiring at least 80% of department employees to work in person, with the goal of reaching 80% or higher occupancy in state buildings.

Following a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, Chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) said the Senate is still working on its larger budget pieces, including K-12 Schools, DHHS, and the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, but budget activity will continue over the next two weeks.