MI SB0036

Expands Michigan's essential health provider recruitment strategy to include licensed midwives as "designated professionals" alongside physicians, dentists, nurses, and other healthcare providers

Makes midwives eligible for the essential health provider loan repayment program, which provides up to $40,000 per year and a maximum of $300,000 over 10 or more years for professionals who serve in health resource shortage areas

Adds "midwifery program" to the list of accredited training programs whose graduates qualify for debt repayment assistance

Authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to cooperate with associations representing midwives and certified nurse midwives, including those attending births in homes and freestanding birth centers, to support placement in health resource shortage areas

Requires biennial reports to include assessment of whether debt repayment amounts are sufficient to recruit midwives and whether adjustments are needed to reflect midwifery program tuition costs