As a pediatrician at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in Flint, Michigan, I perform well-child checks, treat asthma and discuss nutrition with families. I prescribe medicine and arrange follow-up visits.

Earlier in my career, when I would see families that struggled to pay rent, keep the lights on, feed their families, afford their medications or buy diapers, I saw how those hardships directly harmed their health, yet I felt powerless.

I remember thinking, “What can I do about poverty?”

In medicine, poverty is often screened for, documented and then ignored as a “social” issue outside the scope of medicine. It becomes a side note in a medical chart. We do not treat it or prevent it with the same urgency as we treat infections, diabetes or hypertension.

For over a century, academic medical centers in the U.S. have produced scientific discoveries that improve health. Achievements such as vaccines, genome mapping and the management of deadly diseases save lives daily.

But even with all our medical advances, the biggest factors that shape health are still social, and a family’s income remains one of the strongest and most lasting.

A prescription for poverty

In 2024, Michigan State launched Rx Kids, the country’s first universal and unconditional prenatal and infant cash program.

Rx Kids provides mothers with US$1,500 during pregnancy and families with babies with $500 a month until the baby’s first birthday. Rx Kids is a place-based treatment – everyone who lives in a participating community is eligible. There are no income requirements and no conditions........

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