Richardville Urges Leadership, Bi-Partisan Cooperation To Address ‘Mental Health Crisis’

Back in 2014, then-Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville put together a $1.5 billion road funding plan with higher fuel taxes, among other things. He said the incentive at the time was what he was hearing in his district.

“I think the most common phrase I’m hearing from back home is ‘just fix the roads. In fact, they say ’just fix the damn roads,” Richardville is quoted in an MLive article as saying.

Richardville was before his time in coining that catchphrase. His counterpart in the Senate at the time, Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer, used the slogan during her gubernatorial campaign with success.

But like Whitmer, Richardville [Read More]

By STEPHANIE ARMOUR

Former President Donald Trump’s return to the White House will likely bring changes that scale back the nation’s public health insurance programs — increasing the uninsured rate, while imposing new barriers to abortion and other reproductive care.

The reverberations will be felt far beyond Washington, D.C., and could include an erosion of the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections, the imposition of work requirements in Medicaid and funding cuts to the safety net insurance, and challenges to federal agencies that safeguard public health. Abortion restrictions may tighten nationwide with a possible effort to restrict the mailing of abortion medications.

And with the elevation of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to [Read More]

This year, Michigan hospitals will continue pushing legislators to ban drug manufacturers from creating restrictions and limited-access conditions around their “340B Drug” products, which they say will preserve discounted drug access for rural hospitals.

The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program was established in 1993. According to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, drug manufacturers participating in the Medicaid insurance program must supply outpatient drugs to 340B facilities at “significantly reduced prices.” Becoming a 340B facility depends on the number of Medicaid recipients and considerably “underserved” individuals that a hospital serves.

In a recent interview with MIRS, Laura Appel – the Michigan Health and Hospital Association’s executive vice president – said 87 hospitals in the [Read More]

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

Whitmer Signs Maternal Health Package, Pharmacist Birth Control Bills, Other Insurance Changes

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed 16 bills this month, many surrounding women’s reproductive health care, including two that let pharmacists prescribe birth control, a nine-bill package putting pregnancy on Medicaid, and two on birthing centers and doulas.

Whitmer was slated to sign HB 5435 and HB 5436 in Flint today, but the event was canceled because of the snow and freezing weather. Whitmer posted the signing on social media, where she thanked Reps. Stephanie Young (D-Detroit) and Kara Hope (D-Holt) for sponsoring the bills.

“Today, I’m signing commonsense bills to further protect everyone’s fundamental [Read More]

By ROLF LOWE
Wachler & Associates

On Dec. 18, 2024, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced that Michigan, along with New York, Oklahoma and South Carolina were selected to participate in the Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model. The IBH Model is another step forward by CMS in integrating health care services and improving outcomes for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. The IBH Model was announced in January of 2024 with CMS providing funding opportunities for state Medicaid agencies willing to participate in the IBH Model. The Implementation of the IBH Model started on January 1, 2025, and is scheduled to be in effect for eight years.

The IBH Model in [Read More]

By GLENN S. RICHARDS & LEE G. PETRO
Dickinson Wright

Introduction

On December 13, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced significant updates to its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform. This enhanced tool, now incorporating a range of new health metrics, aims to provide deeper insights into the connection between expanding broadband connectivity and critical health outcomes, with a particular focus on maternal health.

Background

The FCC administers two healthcare subsidy programs under its Universal Service Fund: the Rural Health Care (RHC) program and the COVID-19 Telehealth program. The RHC program provides funding to eligible health care providers to support the cost of broadband and telecommunications services that enable telehealth [Read More]

Michigan’s public mental health plans filed a lawsuit accusing the state’s Department of Health and Human Services of imposing unnegotiated contract terms and threatening to cut off funding.

The plans, known as prepaid inpatient health plans argued DHHS’ actions violate state law and jeopardize mental health and substance use disorder services for thousands of residents.

“This isn’t just a contract dispute – it’s about ensuring the stability of behavioral health services that families across the state rely on every day,” said Robert Sheehan, chief executive officer of Community Mental Health Association of Michigan.

The six-count complaint, filed on behalf of NorthCare Network Mental Health Care Entity and Northern Michigan Regional Entity in the Court [Read More]

By ANNIE WALDMAN

This story was originally published Nov. 19, by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.

For years, it was a mystery: Seemingly out of the blue, therapists would feel like they’d tripped some invisible wire and become a target of UnitedHealth Group.

A company representative with the Orwellian title “care advocate” would call and grill them about why they’d seen a patient twice a week or weekly for six months.

In case after case, United would refuse to cover care, leaving patients to pay out-of-pocket or go without it. The severity of their issues seemed not to matter.

Around 2016, government officials began to pry open United’s black box. [Read More]

 By JENNI COLAGIOVANNI
Wachler & Associates, P.C.

The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) resulted in the waiver of certain pre-pandemic restrictions to expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services and increase access to care for Medicare patients.  More than a year and a half after the end of the PHE, several of these continuing telehealth flexibilities are set to expire on December 31, 2024, returning Medicare coverage of some telehealth services back to their pre-pandemic requirements.

Background: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare coverage of telehealth services was primarily limited to patients located in rural areas and restricted to certain provider types and services. Patients were generally required to travel to approved [Read More]

By KIMBERLY J. RUPPEL
Dickinson Wright

As is the case in many industry sectors, the end of the year brings us to wonder what is in store for healthcare in 2025. Although the future is anyone’s guess, the following three areas of healthcare are most likely to experience robust activity.

1. Non-Compete Litigation

Non-compete provisions are designed to prohibit an employed or contracted healthcare provider from competing against the contracting entity by working for or starting a competing business within a particular geographic area for some time. In April 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) promulgated a rule (the “Rule”) generally prohibiting non-compete clauses in employment agreements except for certain “Senior Executives” with [Read More]