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Hello! Welcome back to Hospital & Politics. Periodically, your Government Relations team will provide updates regarding Lansing and Washington D.C. hospital related news. In this issue our focus is on the health portion of Governor Whitmer’s Fall Address. The legislature is back in the swing of things and the Governor set the stage for the Democratic legislature by presenting a Fall Address of her top priorities. A Fall Address is rare for a Governor to make because a Governor generally makes one State of the State Address in January upon taking office. With that being said, the Governor has signed numerous priorities from her State of the State Address. Repealing the 1931 abortion ban, expanding Elliott Larsen to include legal protections for LGBTQ+, repealing the retirement tax and increasing the earned income tax credit, providing school lunches for free, and focusing on bringing jobs to Michigan through the SOAR fund are all examples of her accomplishments this term. Additionally, with rising thoughts of the Legislature adjourning in November and allowing the Governor to request special session days until the Democratic primary is over, this Fall Address may be setting the stage for the Legislature to be aware of the priorities that need to be complete prior to them adjourning. In her Fall Address, Governor Whitmer focused on four main pillars: public safety, the health of Michiganders, the health of our planet, and the health of our economy. One of the more controversial items for the business community has been her goal of getting Paid Leave for all. The majority of Michiganders believe that Paid Leave should be provided but the details are of the most importance in how this is enacted. The Fall Legislative action items will be the one to watch for this season. As the year goes on, some articles will be specifically focused on one piece of policy or one concept of political hospital news. If you would like to see anything specific in these newsletters, please do not hesitate to reach out to Allisyn Mattice at [email protected]. The Health of MichigandersThe Fall Priorities for the Health of Michiganders was broken down into three main categories: the health of the people, the cost of health, and prescription drug costs. The breakdown explores the issues further below.
Healthy People The Governor touted her enacted legislation that repealed the 1931 ban on abortion and pressed on how she would continue to protect the health of women to have access over her own reproductive rights. Additionally, she focused on repealing additional laws to encourage and protect reproductive rights. The Governor is encouraging the legislature to pass the Reproductive Health Act. The Reproductive Health Act contains 17 bills that create a right to abortion in Michigan. House Bills 4949-4959 and SBs 474-479 contain numerous provisions that grant protection for women to have an abortion and be free from prosecution or adverse effects due to a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. A civil action may be brought forward against a governmental entity only for a violation. A government entity consists of state departments, schools, townships, cities, counties, agencies, and officials of those agencies and departments. HB 4949 contains the bulk of the changes whereby the remaining bills strike references in law relating to abortion. Health Care Costs The Governor has not been shy in expressing her desire to lower health care costs across the spectrum. She included $100M in her executive budget, which did not get included at the end, to bring in an insulin manufacturer to Michigan who would make insulin drugs for less than $20. Even though it did not get included in the final budget, the Governor is encouraging the Legislature to send bills her way that help reduce the burden of health care costs on Michiganders. For instance, she called on the Legislature to protect those with pre-existing conditions by codifying those provision of the Affordable Care Act. She on the Legislature to ban annual or lifetime caps, allow children to remain on their parent’s insurance until they are 26, and require insurance plans to cover ambulance services, maternity care, mental health care, and birth control. There are already a package of bills in the House (HB 4619-4623) that would codify these changes and they are currently sitting in the Seante Health Committee. Prescription Drugs A massive transparency package for Pharmacy Benefit Managers was passed early this year but the Governor is calling on the creation of a nonpartisan Prescription Drug Affordability Board. The Board will consist of health care, economic, supply chain, and academic leaders. The goal of the Board will be to hold bad actors accountable and encourage new Research and Development for cures and treatment. They are to use evidence-based research to tackle the cost of prescription drugs. It is important to know that in 2020 a bipartisan board was created to review this same issue. Comments are closed.
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