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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Saving Lives and Money: Michigan Celebrates Family Physicians

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Monday, February 20, 2017   

MUSKEGON, Mich. -- They can deliver babies, take care of parents, and see grandparents through their golden years - and research shows Michigan's family physicians play an important role in the state's physical and financial health as well.

Dr. Tina Tanner is a longtime family medical provider in Muskegon who has cared for as many as five generations of the same family. She said not only is it logistically easier on families to all see the same doctor, studies have shown family physicians bring many benefits to communities, including lower overall healthcare costs.

"Lower rates of infant mortality, higher birth rates, higher immunization rates,” Tanner said, "as well as decreased deaths from things like stroke, heart disease, cancer."

In recognition of the role family physicians play in communities across the state, Gov. Rick Snyder has declared February 19-25 Family Medicine Week in Michigan.

The 2014 expansion of the state's Medicaid program, known as Healthy Michigan, meant that 650,000 low income residents had health insurance - many for the first time.

Tanner said she has many new patients who, in the past, had to use the hospital emergency room for routine care.

"While they can do it, they do it at a much higher cost than will happen in my office,” she said. "So, by just shifting that burden from the emergency room into a primary care office, we've saved the state already."

While Michigan is considered a leader for its number and quality of medical schools, Tanner said it's noteworthy that the state ranks 48th in the nation for the average salary of primary care physicians. She said the state would benefit from more family practice doctors, but many medical students can't afford to consider it because of the heavy student debt burden they carry.


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