Sen. Debbie Stabenow, State Legislators to Highlight Annual Walk a Mile in My Shoes Rally & Warn Against State PIHP Procurement Process

Stabenow, other state leaders to sound alarm against the competitive procurement process for prepaid inpatient health plans

LANSING, Mich., Sept. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Community Mental Health Association of Michigan (CMHAM) announces that former U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow is this year’s keynote speaker at the Walk a Mile in My Shoes Rally, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17, at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing. The rally highlights the importance of accessible mental and behavioral health care for all Michiganders and the strong opposition, by a broad coalition, to the planned bid-out to manage the state’s public mental health system.

Immediately preceding the rally, Sen. Stabenow along with Michigan legislators, advocacy agencies, municipal and labor leaders, and families will hold a press conference at 12 p.m. at the Capital Tower, Suite 200, 110 W. Michigan Ave. in Lansing. Sen. Stabenow and other leaders will voice their opposition to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ competitive proposal process for prepaid inpatient health plans (PIHPs) at the press conference.

Legislators will also present a new package of bills recognizing and reinforcing the value and importance of the current public PIHP system.

There is strong opposition from clinicians, administrators, allies and person-served/clients to this competitive-bid proposal, especially following the significant Medicaid funding cuts projected to cost Michigan $1.1 billion starting the fiscal year of 2026. Rather than simplifying the system, the proposal will replace the current framework with a more bureaucratic and costly one that fails to address the real concerns raised by Michiganders – those of adequate financing of the public system and the need to close the behavioral health workforce gap.

At the 2024 rally, almost 2,000 individuals congregated at the capitol to advocate for the more than 300,000 Michiganders who receive behavioral health services in the state. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports 22.8% of U.S. adults experience mental illness each year, demonstrating a clear need for better and more accessible care. The rally recognizes those individuals, their loved ones and their doctors, and the harm that the state’s planned bid out of the management of the state’s public mental health system.

“This will be our 21st year hosting the Walk a Mile Rally and our mission remains focused on ending the stigma around behavioral health care and demanding that our legislators reflect on how it feels to be in need of something and not be able to obtain it,” said CMHAM CEO Robert Sheehan. “This year’s rally is particularly important as we address the negative impacts of seeking bids for the state’s mental health managed care system with a system that favors the private insurance company takeover of the system.”

Marching up the middle sidewalk will begin at 1:45 p.m., followed by statements from each county representative. The rally is then slated to run until 3 p.m., after which attendees are encouraged to meet with state legislators outside the House of Representatives and Senate chambers, or their offices if the session is over. The purpose of the meetings is to promote mental health and developmental disability issues, such as support for mental health programs and local community mental health centers, and to seek support for the growing opposition to the planned bid-out to manage the state’s public mental health system.

About the Community Mental Health Association
The Community Mental Health Association of Michigan is the state association representing the state’s public Community Mental Health (CMH) centers, the public Prepaid Inpatient Health Plans (PIHP), public health plans formed and governed by CMH centers and the providers within the CMH and PIHP provider networks.

Media Contact:
Molly Hisey
Molly.Hisey@LLYC.global

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