Michigan’s aging crisis leaves seniors without support, services
Elderly Health

Michigan’s aging crisis leaves seniors without support, services

April 21, 2025
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The state of Michigan has a senior-care crisis that is worsening by the day.

The state spends billions of dollars a year for a “dysfunctional assembly of programs where frustration, failure, and poor outcomes are far too common,” according to a 2022 report by the Michigan Elder Justice Initiative

Michigan spends $4.4 billion in state and federal funds for seniors, providing everything from home-delivered meals to round-the-clock nursing care. That’s less than most other states; services vary by community, and an estimated 32,000 older Michiganders live in facilities that are loosely regulated and often unlicensed.

Bridge Michigan, sister publication to BridgeDetroit, is writing about issues surrounding older residents in a state aging faster than most others.

Reporter Robin Erb wants to hear from you.

What are the challenges ahead for you as you age or help care for an aging loved one? What are the best programs out there? How has your life changed as you move from career to retirement or family home to assisted living? Or maybe you’ve got an idea to help bridge the gaps in housing, transportation, health care and other services for older Michiganders.

Drop her a line at [email protected].

The state ranks 36th among 48 states for spending Medicaid dollars in long-term care. Overall, Michigan spends the equivalent of $2,378 per senior, according to a Bridge Michigan analysis. 

That’s 39% less than the national rate.

To make Michigan even average among other states, taxpayers would need to spend an additional $2.7 billion annually, according to a Bridge Michigan analysis.  

And the money it does spend is prioritized to placing residents in nursing homes, rather than helping them stay in homes with services such as health aides.

Other states have taken steps to improve elderly care and restrain burgeoning costs, but advocates say Michigan legislators have failed to make the state’s aging population a priority.

Over three months, Bridge Michigan spoke to dozens of experts, advocates and local and state officials about Michigan’s senior care crisis. Almost all warned the system is teetering under the weight of a fast-aging population and not working.

Click the headlines below to read the stories:

Howard Gregor, 82, likely could have moved to a first-floor apartment with some essential services, but he now resides in a more costly nursing home — sharing a single room with three other men. (Robin Erb/Bridge Michigan)
Funding for senior health care services is growing in Michigan, where nearly 1 in 5 residents is 65 or over. (Rachael Gurski for Bridge Michigan)
Community Health Worker Kerri Simerson and pharmacist Nathaniel Bergman, online, help Jackie Rhea sort through medications and doctors’ orders after her mother, Mary Burzynski, 77, was able to return home from a nursing facility. Burzynski died weeks later. About nine in 10 residents wish to avoid institutional care, but Michigan needs policy changes to make that happen. (Robin Erb/Bridge Michigan)

Experts: Michigan lawmakers should make 6 fixes to improve senior care

In a state hobbled by a shortage of health care staff and social workers, Laura Dykstra, 70, a paid caregiver for three people in their 90s, plans to work until ‘God says “Come home.”’ She and others, though, say they’re anxious about the future and services they might one day need. (Brayan Gutierrez for Bridge Michigan)
Staff at Detroit-based Hannan Center do “reassurance checks” each week, chatting with seniors and connecting them with help if they don’t know where to turn for it.

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