By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
In the waning days of summer, I allow myself to meander at bit, including in my columns.

First off is an issue that has a bit of a back to school connection, and that is that primary care physician practices and their teams should be incubators for future physicians. While training in an ambulatory setting is preferable to a hospital setting, such an environment generally doesn’t reflect the value of the ongoing relationship that is developed between the PCP and patient—a relationship that can reinforce healthy behaviors and provide health strategies that help prevent or manage chronic conditions and co-morbidities.

When residents are trained day in and day out in [Read More]

By REESA N. BENKOFF & DUSTIN WACHLER
Michigan healthcare providers contemplating a relationship with private equity investors must be aware of various legal considerations relative to such arrangements. Increasingly, private equity investors are becoming more interested in investing in healthcare entities. Such investments often present lucrative opportunities for healthcare providers, yet these arrangements implicate a myriad of legal issues. This article will focus on health law issues, however other legal issues including, without limitation, corporate, tax and real estate matters, must be considered when evaluating private equity investment in healthcare entities.

Michigan laws include a legal doctrine commonly referred to as the corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) doctrine. CPOM laws [Read More]

By KIMBERLY J. RUPPEL
With the ever-growing opioid crisis and the president’s call to action to address that crisis, primary care, pain management and behavioral health providers in particular may be faced with privacy issues dealing with a patient’s family, friends or others in relation to treatment for opioid abuse. What can a provider disclose to others in the aftermath of an overdose in order to assist a patient’s recovery efforts and prevent future incidents? What information can a provider share about a patient’s condition and treatment in such a situation?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) prohibits disclosure of a person’s protected health information (PHI) to family members, [Read More]

Health Org: Prosecuting Lyon Could Cause ‘Threat’ Nationwide
A non-profit organization representing health agencies and public health professionals says holding state Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon criminally responsible for actions done in his professional responsibility could “cause a threat to public health nationwide.”

A second nonprofit organization disagreed with criticism of criminal accountability for the Flint water crisis.

The two statements came in amicus curiae briefs filed by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and Community Based Organizing Partners (CBOP), respectively, just two days before Lyon learns if he will head to trial on felony criminal charges for decisions he made during Flint’s Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks [Read More]

By ALLAN DOBZYNIAK, MD
Is there any life remaining in the longstanding and cherished method of healthcare delivery by staunchly independent, patient-centric physician entrepreneurs? Do those physicians relishing the autonomy of small businesses aligned around patient care still exist? Are the market and political forces evolving in ways not permitting independence for such physicians, and is their demise inevitable?

When examining the history of healthcare in the United States, at some point predicting that the private practice of medicine would be in peril now seems inevitable. Tax-exempt policy toward employer-based health insurance, the expensive cost-plus Medicare and Medicaid payment policy at the outset of those programs in the 1960s and first-dollar (no [Read More]

By JULIE APPLEBY
Insurers will again be able to sell short-term health insurance good for up to 12 months under final rules released Aug. 1 by the Trump administration.

This action overturns an Obama administration directive that limited such plans to 90 days. It also adds a new twist: If they wish, insurers can make the short-term plans renewable for up to three years.

The rule will “help increase choices for Americans faced with escalating premiums and dwindling options in the individual market, said James Parker, a senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

But the plans could also raise premiums for those who remain in the Affordable Care Act marketplace [Read More]

Able-bodied, adult Healthy Michigan recipients would need to work 80 hours a month or be in a job training program after Jan. 1, 2020 in order to keep their Medicaid coverage unless they fall under a handful of exemptions, under legislation Gov. Rick Snyder signed June 22.

Sen. Mike Shirkey’s (R-Clarklake) SB 0897 also strips Healthy Michigan recipients who chronically lie on their monthly work reports to lose their coverage for a year. The Department of Health and Human Services would receive an extra $5 million a year under the bill for the additional auditors needed to track these recipients.

The bill also restates in law a provision that legislative Republicans didn’t get [Read More]

There should be no “discrimination of coverage” between mental health benefits and those paid out by insurance companies for physical health, says Rep. Martin Howrylak (R-Troy).

He introduced two bills in mid June,HB6109, and HB 6191, calling the mental health parity, requiring insurers to offer the same coverage for mental health services as traditional medical care.

“The big picture is that mental health treatment should be not subordinated to physical health because they are inextricably linked,” Howrylak explained. “They both represent heath care needs of individuals.”

He used the example of disorders like bulimia and anorexia. Left untreated, they obviously can lead to very significant health problems later on.

“If I were an insurance [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
In last month’s column, I asked the question, “Why do physicians with a career history of providing high quality care have to continue to take board re-certification examinations every six years?” I guess the topic of certifications in general has me in a bit of a huff these days. Not physician certifications, necessarily; rather, the plethora of certifications that have sprouted in recent years for healthcare roles not directly related to personal, clinical care.

I recently came across a post on LinkedIn that noted 149 patient advocates were now certified through a board I won’t name, following the inaugural national certification exam for professionals working as patient advocates. I’m [Read More]

By SARAH HILLEGONDS, ESQ
In June, a controversial bill that would impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients in the state’s expanded Healthy Michigan Plan made its way through the Legislature. It is expected that Gov. Rick Snyder will sign this bill into law, which could affect hundreds of thousands of individuals enrolled in the Healthy Michigan Plan. The House Fiscal Agency estimates that 540,000 of 670,000 individuals in the Healthy Michigan Plan would be subject to the new work requirements, and 5 percent to 10 percent of those individuals could lose coverage.

As background, the Healthy Michigan Plan was approved by the Legislature in 2013. It provides health coverage to individuals [Read More]