Bill To Relax Public Employee Health Insurance Moves

Public employee unions would have more ability to collectively bargain their members’ health insurance costs under legislation that moved early last month in the Senate on a party-line vote and, later in the day, in the House.

In response to local government employees and teachers getting fed up with soaring health insurance costs, Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) sponsored bills (introduced before the hunting break) that give some flexibility to what’s known as the “80/20” and “hard cap” options.

The revamped versions of SB 1129 and SB 1130 address the same issue as bills that moved out of a House committee last week, but are not the [Read More]

By ARTHUR ALLEN

Many scientists at the federal health agencies await the second Donald Trump administration with dread as well as uncertainty over how the president-elect will reconcile starkly different philosophies among the leaders of his team.

Trump announced Thursday he’ll nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, after saying during his campaign he’d let the anti-vaccine activist “go wild” on medicines, food, and health.

Should Kennedy win Senate confirmation, his critics say a radical antiestablishment medical movement with roots in past centuries would take power, threatening the achievements of a science-based public health order painstakingly built since World War II.

Trump said in a post [Read More]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is coming into the nomination process in an unusual position, with a long list of his own policy priorities separate from the president-elect’s, and a public promise by Trump to let him “go wild” on his ideas.

Céline Gounder, the editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News and a CBS News medical contributor, answers questions below about the role Kennedy has been tapped to take on and some of the ideas in the sweeping “Make America Healthy Again” platform he may try to push through.

Q: What is the role of the Department of [Read More]

By JESSE ADAM MARKOS, ESQ.
Wachler & Associates, PC

 The National Practitioner Data Bank (Data Bank) published an article in a recent version of their in-house publication, NPDB Insights, that reinforces the importance of exercising caution before resigning from a hospital.  For those on staff or employed by a hospital, a resignation may at first glance appear to be the best path forward when their relationship with that hospital has deteriorated.  However, that resignation will often create more problems than it resolves if it triggers a report to the Data Bank because the resignation occurred during an ongoing investigation by the Hospital.  And since a Data Bank report can have significant professional [Read More]

By KATHLEEN WALKER
Dickinson Wright

On November 1, Texas hospitals faced a new requirement under an Executive Order issued by Governor Greg Abbott on August 8, 2024 (Order), requiring them to document medical costs related to the care of individuals without legal immigration status. Governor Abbott provided the following statement explaining the reasoning behind his Order:

“Due to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies, Texas has had to foot the bill for medical costs for individuals illegally in the state,” said Governor Abbott. “Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants. That is why today I issued an Executive [Read More]

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

$15.6M Contract For COVID-19 Test Kits Goes To Florida Company

The state awarded a $15.6 million contract to Orlando-based Abbott Rapid Dx North America to continue in-state COVID-19 testing.

The funding is coming from the federal government through the COVID Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity funds and must be spent by July 31, 2026, but Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spokesperson Lynn Sutfin said there was no obligation to spend the funds if testing wasn’t needed.

“We continue to urge all Michigan residents to use the tools available to them to protect themselves and their families from all respiratory [Read More]

Patient and consumer advocates are looking to Kamala Harris to accelerate federal efforts to help people struggling with medical debt if she prevails in next month’s presidential election.

By STEPHANIE ARMOUR

Vice President Kamala Harris is seeing a surge of support from Black women voters, galvanized in part by her work on health care issues such as maternal mortality, reproductive rights, and gun control.

The enthusiasm may be key for Democratic turnout at the polls in critical battleground states.

Black women have always been among the most reliable voters in the Democratic base and were central to former President Barack Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012. Enthusiasm was also robust for President Joe Biden in 2020. But this year, before he bowed out of the race and Harris became the Democratic nominee, his support among this critical demographic had been fading, [Read More]

KAITLYN DELBENE
Wachler & Associates, PC

The Office of Inspector General recently issued a report recommending increased oversight following a data analysis of Medicare fee-for-service claims for remote patient monitoring services. Providers should be aware of possible increased scrutiny by CMS, including audits and new proposed coverage criteria.

What Is Remote Patient Monitoring?

Remote patient monitoring (“RPM,” also at times referred to as remote physiologic monitoring) is the collection and transmission of health data in a patient’s home that providers use to remotely monitor a patient’s health status and manage a patient’s condition. To qualify as RPM, the monitoring device must automatically transmit data to the patient’s provider. The provider is then able to [Read More]

By NICOLETTE TABER
Dickinson Wright

On Sept. 9, 2024, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (collectively “the Departments”) released final rules strengthening and clarifying the rules previously set forth in the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). These new rules signify the Departments’ commitment to enforcing existing mental health parity laws by imposing additional requirements on insurers while also outlining guidelines for compliance.

The final rules reinforce the MHPAEA’s mandate of group health plans and health insurance issuers that offer group and individual health insurance coverage of mental health or substance use disorder benefits to do so in parity with medical and surgical benefits. The [Read More]