OAG Repeats UIA Pandemic Performance In Penultimate Report

The second-to-last report ordered by the Legislature of the Unemployment Insurance Agency was released by the Office of Auditor General and rehashed issues that plagued the agency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A 126-page OAG report flagged 14 issues and made two observations that are a return to the previous excoriating audits of the UIA that have been released since 2021. The Legislature ordered five audits before the resignation of former UIA Director Steve Gray in 2020 over issues of mismanagement, fraud, and waste during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

“What we are seeing with this report is a rehash of issues that have been addressed, addressed and addressed again, and not only [Read More]

By ROLF LOWE
Effective February 4, 2023, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) will allow Medicaid reimbursement for behavioral health services provided by recent graduates of board-approved master’s or doctoral level psychology, social work, counseling or marriage and family therapy educational training program who have completed all the requirements for a limited or temporary license as specified in the respective licensing rules for each discipline, but have not yet obtained a license from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). The change in coverage was announced by MDHHS on January 5, 2023, in Michigan Medicaid Policy (MMP) Bulletin 23-02.

While the MMP Bulletin expands the behavioral health [Read More]

By MICHAEL McAULIFF
In what has become an almost yearly ritual, physician groups are arguing that patients will have greater difficulty finding doctors who accept Medicare if lawmakers allow pay cuts to happen.

A more than 4,000-page draft government spending bill released by lawmakers in mid December proposed much smaller-than-planned cuts to Medicare payments. But the bill, which Congress hoped to pass to keep the government funded and avert a shutdown, would not go as far as doctors wanted.

“Despite overwhelming bipartisan, bicameral support to stop the full Medicare physician payment cut, Congress failed once again to end the cycle of harmful Medicare cuts, showing a disregard for vulnerable seniors,” the Surgical Care [Read More]

An estimated 3.5 million Michiganders are expected to travel more than 50 miles between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, just as the numbers of flu cases and COVID-19 cases have started to rise in the state.

The flu season and COVID-19 numbers are tracking upward in the state, according to data from the  Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) The weekly reported COVID-19 cases were at 13,043 on recently with 181 deaths for the week.  During a recent seven-day period the rate of flu cases went from low to moderate in the state.

The rate of spread for COVID-19 is between low and moderate [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
Over the course of the last three months, I’ve moved from internships to mentoring to negotiations. It’s as if I’m ascending the career ladder in these columns! Truthfully, the art of successful leadership is due in part to the ability to negotiate. I bring up the topic because a colleague recently commented on the many new arrangements (and yes, risks) our organization has taken on throughout 2022; and where there are business deals, there are negotiations. That led to a conversation on multiple communication tangents, including stakeholders, motives, preparation, questions, goals, agenda, flexibility and communication.

Part of my leadership approach is believing that just because someone told me “no” [Read More]

By JENNI COLAGIOVANNI & DANIEL AYASH
On November 1, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published its Final Rule implementing changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for CY 2023. Included within this Final Rule are important changes for clinical laboratories that will take effect on Jan. 1, 2023.

There are two notable changes affecting clinical labs included in the Final Rule. First, CMS is implementing congressionally mandated changes to reporting obligations under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, which updates reporting timelines and limits the phase-in of laboratory test payment reductions. Second, CMS is issuing regulations to both codify and modify policies on billing Medicare for specimen collection [Read More]

HHS Proposes Rule on Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records

By ANGELINA M. GONZALEZ
On Dec. 2, 2022, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to modify portions of Part 2 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations which protect the confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records. See 87 Fed.Reg. 74216. Currently, Part 2 imposes different confidentiality requirements for substance use disorder treatment records than the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Privacy, Security, Breach Notification, and Enforcement Rules apply to protected health information. Thus, [Read More]

Lansing Lines is presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

Health Officials Didn’t Need County Commissioners’ Signoff To Mandate Masks In School

The Ottawa County health department’s now-defunct mask mandates in schools did not require the county board of commissioners’ approval, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled.

The three-judge panel acknowledged the parents’ argument that the state’s Public Health Code, requires a board of commissioners approve or disapprove a regulation adopted by a local health department.

However, “there is no language indicating that the same approval process applies to an order issued by a local health officer,” reads the published opinion from Judges Jane Markey, Elizabeth Gleicher and Michelle Rick.

The plaintiffs, a half-dozen parents [Read More]

Proposal 3, arguably the top driver for many voters who headed to the polls today, passed today.

The proposal inscribes the right to an abortion, and other reproductive issues, into the Michigan Constitution after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the practice nationally. It was projected by Mark Grebner of Practical Political Consultants to draw between 10,000 and 20,000 new young female voters.

“Michigan, we made it happen! Your votes helped #RestoreRoe and protect #ReproductiveFreedom for generations to co come. Thank you to everyone who volunteered, hosted a yard sign, and voted for #Proposal3 this election!” reads the tweet from Reproductive Freedom For All, the group that spearheaded Proposal 3.

Reproductive [Read More]

By FRED SCHULTE
Two-year-old Zion Gastelum died four days after receiving baby root canals and crowns at Kool Smiles, a private equity-affiliated dental clinic in Yuma, Arizona. In a lawsuit, which was settled in 2021, his parents accused the clinic and the investment firm of putting profits ahead of patient safety. The clinic and investment firm denied liability. The boy’s death was featured on ABC15 Arizona on Jan. 4, 2018.

Two-year-old Zion Gastelum died just days after dentists performed root canals and put crowns on six baby teeth at a clinic affiliated with a private equity firm.

His parents sued the Kool Smiles dental clinic in Yuma, Arizona, and its private equity investor, FFL [Read More]