17 January 2022: Michigan Auditor General Releases Report Finding Whitmer Administration Undercounted COVID Nursing Home Deaths

Michigan auditor general releases review of COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facility

A report from Michigan's Office of the Auditor General that concluded a higher number of patients at long-term care facilities had died from COVID-19 than what the state health department was reporting dropped on Monday.

The report, which received media coverage and criticism ahead of its publishing on Jan. 17, announced it identified 7,010 COVID-19 deaths linked to LTC facilities between Jan. 1, 2020 and July 2, 2021. That's 1,511 more deaths than what the state had reported.

The figure is disputed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which argued last week and doubled-down Monday that differences between the report and its own totals were because the departments used different definitions when defining long-term care facility deaths.

The figures cited in this exerpt apply specifically to Michigan nursing homes and long term care facilities whose COVID deaths among residents were underreported by the Whitmer administration according to Michigan State Auditor General Doug Ringler's report. It's rather remarkable the Whitmer administration is doubling down on semantics as its primary argument in its attempt to discredit the report. Meanwhile, Representative Steve Johnson (R-Wayland), who chairs the state House's Oversight Committee, puts his finger on what the report really represents:

Johnson previously argued the report, which explicitly stated was not an audit of the nursing home figures, revealed a "shocking undercount."

"Make no mistake – this is a large discrepancy, and the report makes that clear," Johnson said last week.

Here's a link to the Michigan State Auditor General's report. Here's a short summary of its main findings, which appears in a letter sent to Representative Johnson, which directly addresses part of the Whitmer administration's attempt to discredit the findings:

Regarding COVID-19 deaths linked to LTC facilities, we identified a total of 8,061, including 7,010 deaths assoicated within the LTC facility types required to report. LTC facilities self-reported 5,675 of those 7,010 deahts as of July 2, 2021. MDHHS disagreed with 1,511 deaths included in our total because it questioned the reliability of the MDSS address field. Based on our rationale identified on page 4, including conducting further procedures to corroborate the addresses, we contend the address field is reliable.