By CHRISTOPHER J. RYAN & GREGORY W. MOORE
Since last year, certain providers (e.g., anesthesiologists, radiologists, surgeons, etc.) in Michigan have had to navigate Michigan’s Surprise Medical Billing Law (Michigan Act). Starting Jan. 1, 2022, those same providers have also had to comply with the Federal No Surprises Act (Federal Act). Generally, both statutes prevent nonparticipating providers from balance billing patients when the patient’s insurance company pays less than the nonparticipating provider’s usual and customary charge. The Federal Act defines “nonparticipating providers” as those who do not have a contractual relationship with a plan/insurance company.

Although the two statutes largely apply to the same providers, those providers need to pay attention to [Read More]

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

COVID-19 Surge Likely To Peak In Late Jan.-Early Feb.

The ongoing COVID-19 surge isn’t likely to reach its peak until the end of January or early February, according to coronavirus scenario hubs viewed by Michigan health officials.

Amongst the most cynical predictions for Michigan, COVID-19 hospitalizations could peak at 8,000 – more than a 90% increase from when the state broke the hospitalization record with 4,191 in late November of 2021.

Slide from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services during Jan. 11 media briefing.

While an optimistic forecast shows hospitalizations not experiencing much of an increase – similar [Read More]

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

Schools Should Mandate Mask Wearing When Classes Resume, Doctor Says

Schools should make mask wearing mandatory for students when they return to the classroom next month, Dr. Matthew Sims, director of Infection Prevention Research for Beaumont Health, said Aug. 10 in an online press conference.
“It’s just a danger that there is no reason to take the risk of making this optional,” Sims said.

He was speaking during an online press conference hosted by Beaumont Health.

Dr. Sandy Patel, pediatrician at Beaumont, said the hospital system has been admitting two to three COVID-positive pediatric patients each week for the past [Read More]

By LAREN WEBER
The day after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson finished his bicentennial bus tour to drum up tourism to the state in mid-July, Chicago issued a travel advisory warning about visiting Missouri.

Earlier this summer, as covid-19 case counts began to tick up when the highly transmissible delta variant took hold in the state, the Republican-majority legislature successfully enacted laws limiting public health powers and absolving businesses from covid legal exposure.

The state health officer post has sat vacant since Dr. Randall Williams resigned suddenly in late April — leaving Missouri without a permanent leader as the covid numbers grew. And Brian Steele, a mayor in the Springfield area, which is at [Read More]

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
The drugmaker Pfizer recently announced that vaccinated people are likely to need a booster shot to be effectively protected against new variants of covid-19 and that the company would apply for Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for the shot. Top government health officials immediately and emphatically announced that the booster isn’t needed right now — and held firm to that position even after Pfizer’s top scientist made his case and shared preliminary data with them last week.

This has led to confusion. Should the nearly 60% of adult Americans who have been fully vaccinated seek out a booster or not? Is the protection that has allowed them [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
I’m keeping with my community theme for this column, but this time, I’m taking it to the streets. After years of being a wish-list item, our organization is set to acquire a refurbished mobile clinic, thanks to generous grant assistance from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Mobile health clinics are not a new concept, and there are thousands of them in operation, but I suspect their value was somewhat diminished amid a decade of healthcare news on emerging medical technology, mega health system mergers and Wall Street takeovers of primary care. But again, we see the pandemic forcing us to reconsider how we deliver care, especially to the [Read More]

By STEPHEN SHAVER & DANIEL AYYASH
A Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) is a common structure in the healthcare industry. However, running a GPO in compliance with the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) involves a complex analysis of two distinct safe harbors under the AKS. A GPO is a negotiating agent that allows its members to leverage their combined buying power to obtain more favorable pricing and terms. Rather than each member negotiating with a given vendor independently, the GPO negotiates and maintains a master purchase agreement with the vendor on behalf of its members which allows the members to make purchases under the master agreement with better terms than the member could [Read More]

By KATHLEEN CAMPBELL WALKER
We owe a tremendous debt to the healthcare worker battalion, who fought, and continues to fight, to save lives globally during this pandemic. It is important to consider that while the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the severe healthcare worker shortages globally, we are now facing an increasing percentage of burnout departures in the industry. For example, a survey conducted by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) found that, “20 percent of national nurse associations reported an increased rate of nurses leaving the profession in 2020.” The ICN estimated that 13 million nurses could be needed to fill global shortages and replace nurses who leave the profession [Read More]