By KATE WELLS

More than 900 people in Washtenaw County, Michigan, have been sickened with cyclosporiasis since mid-June. Linda Kim, a public health nurse, has called more than 100 of them. Almost everyone has said the same thing: It’s excruciating, and one of the worst illnesses they’ve experienced.

But on a Wednesday in July, she called one man who said he wouldn’t mind having it again, actually.

“You’re enjoying the weight loss?” Kim said, laughing as she took notes in a small conference room at the Washtenaw County Health Department building, just outside Ann Arbor. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. At least you got something good out of it!”

Normally, Kim’s supposed to [Read More]

By PHIL GALEWITZ, CHRISTINE MAI-DUC & AMANDA SEITZ

A handful of former public health officials are campaigning for top statewide offices across the country, testing whether their experience with covid and other hot-button health issues will appeal to voters in November.

The officials, all Democrats, are running at a time when the Trump administration is reducing government funding for scientific research, restricting access to some vaccines, and making it more difficult for some Americans to obtain health insurance.

Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 3.14 Action, a political action committee that recruits Democratic candidates with science and health backgrounds, said it is unusual to see so many public health leaders running for office.

“But it’s not [Read More]

By SHANIYA RAHEJA, ESQ
Wachler & Associates, P.C.

Background

Medicare providers nationwide are confronting a rapidly escalating enforcement trend: large‑scale audits and clawbacks targeting previously paid claims for amniotic skin substitutes. These products—minimally manipulated human amniotic tissue regulated as Section 361 HCT/Ps—have long been considered standard of care for chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers. They are regulated under Section 1271 of the FDA’s Public Health Service Act, which defines “minimal manipulation” and governs human cell and tissue products.

Beginning in 2015, multiple MACs issued Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) expressly stating that skin substitutes were medically reasonable and necessary when conservative care failed, among other considerations. These LCDs remain [Read More]

By ALLISON DOLSON
Dickinson Wright

One of the most lasting changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has been the widespread adoption of telehealth. Between 2019 and 2021, physician use of telemedicine increased dramatically from 15.4% to 86.5%. While utilization has moderated since its pandemic peak, telehealth remains a component of healthcare delivery. For providers, investors, and acquirers, however, telehealth’s growth has created a regulatory challenge: healthcare services may be delivered virtually, but healthcare regulation remains largely state based.

As healthcare platforms continue to expand, organizations must navigate a patchwork of state licensure requirements, prescribing regulations, corporate practice restrictions, and entity formation requirements. A telehealth platform may operate as a single business from [Read More]

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

Changes To Student Loans, Reimbursement Rates Could Impact Access To Anesthesia

When it comes to rising health care costs and access to anesthesia, the Michigan Association of Nurse Anesthetists (MANA) worries about insurance reimbursement cuts for anesthesia, and it is becoming harder for students to afford schooling to enter the industry.

In the United States, nearly 60,000 patients daily receive general anesthesia for surgery, according to the National Library of Medicine.

MANA’s president, Gena Welch, the nurse anesthesia program director of the University of Michigan–Flint, cutting anesthesia out of procedures to reduce costs is not a viable option.

“Reimbursement rates are something that we [Read More]

A Deloitte-Run System Denied Medicaid Benefits for Michigan’s Disabled. Now Trump’s Law Piles On.

By RACHANA PRADHAN, SAMANTHA LISS & KATE WELLS

Marie Noon takes eight medications a day. One keeps her heart rate from spiking to avoid a stroke. One prevents debilitating headaches. Another ensures she doesn’t retain excess fluid.

More than a decade ago, Noon said, she was diagnosed with adult-onset Still’s disease, a rare type of inflammatory arthritis that can cause rashes, debilitating pain, and fevers. The disease upended her life.

She had been living a typical suburban life in Michigan, shuttling her two kids to activities like cheerleading, choir practice, and track. She was active in the PTA. She managed [Read More]

(LANSING) — Lansing-area healthcare advocates blasted U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) in mid-July over his votes on Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies as they announced they submitted enough signatures to place a local healthcare initiative before voters in November. Organizers said Lansing voters submitted 7,385 signatures to the city clerk last week, exceeding the 4,433 required to qualify for the ballot.

The proposals would establish citizen-led Healthcare Action Committees tasked with holding public hearings and developing recommendations to address healthcare costs and access at the local level. The committees would also examine how actions taken by state and federal officials affect residents’ healthcare.

Some folks are skeptical of the group behind the [Read More]

By STEPHEN SHAVER
Wachler & Associates PC

As Medicare continues to expand its efforts to combat fraud, waste, and abuse, healthcare providers across the country are paying close attention to new audit and compliance initiatives. Hospice providers have experienced particularly intense scrutiny and one of Medicare’s preferred tools has increasingly become the Provisional Period of Enhanced Oversight (PPEO) program. While PPEO audits have thus far only been implemented in a few states, CMS has already expanded the program and further expansion or nation-wide implementation may not be far off. Understanding the purpose of the PPEO initiative and the broader direction of Medicare oversight can help healthcare organizations prepare for potential future changes.

In [Read More]

By DANA ULRICH
Dickinson Wright 

LOI drift is one of the more underappreciated risks in healthcare transactions, and one of the more avoidable ones. It happens when the terms agreed to in a letter of intent, such as a co-branding commitment or a governance right, simply don’t make it into the definitive agreement. Whether by oversight or negotiating attrition, the result is the same: the deal you thought you closed isn’t the deal that governs the relationship. For healthcare organizations entering complex affiliations, joint ventures, or MSO arrangements, that gap can be costly.

 Apex Health, Inc. v. Atrium Health, Inc., 2026 NCBC 10 (N.C. Super. Ct. Feb. 11, 2026) is a notable example [Read More]

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

Single-Payer, Universal Healthcare Gets 58% Support In MI Poll

A 58% majority of Michigan voters support a universal, single-payer health care system, according to polling released today by Progress Michigan.

The organization, in partnership with Public Policy Polling, surveyed 641 Michigan voters, asking whether they would “strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose a single-payer, universal health care system in the United States, with the costs of healthcare for all residents being covered by a government-funded public system.”

According to the results, 47% of respondents said they strongly support a single-payer system, while 11% said they somewhat [Read More]