By NICOLETTE TABER & DUSTIN PLUMADORE
Dickinson Wright

 Recently, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a conviction of a lab operator for violations of the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (“EKRA”) in United States v. Schena. This ruling, the first ever appellate interpretation of EKRA, has notable implications for both the laboratory industry and the greater healthcare industry.

What is EKRA?

EKRA was enacted in 2018 as a component of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT Act). EKRA makes it a federal crime to accept or pay kickbacks for referrals to recovery homes, clinical treatment facilities, or laboratories. Similar to the Anti-Kickback Statute, [Read More]

Rivet Suggests Opening Up Medicare For Those Who Want It

U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City)  described the United States’ health care system as being in a “crisis” that, in the long term, should include affordable insurance programs, which “likely means . . . a reasonable proposal that opens up Medicare for people who want it.”

Speaking in November during a press conference sponsored by Protect Our Care, Rivet advocated for a return of the Affordable Care Act tax credits that have kept health insurance rates steady and affordable for Americans. Without the tax credits, “millions of Americans” are at risk of going without health insurance, which will jack up rates [Read More]

This story courtesy of MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

If Congress discontinues tax credits that subsidize working-class employees who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s affiliated marketplace, costs could skyrocket, based on testimony taken at a recent state Senate committee meeting.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities projected that 94,800 small business owners in Michigan, as well as 60,700 individuals tagged as “self-employed,” received coverage through the marketplace.

Without the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, healthier people receiving coverage through the ACA marketplace may drop their coverage as the price for insurance becomes prohibitive, making coverage even more expensive for those who need it.

Senate Health Policy Committee Chair Kevin Hertel [Read More]

This story courtesy of MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

The rate of children and adolescents receiving routine vaccinations is declining across the state, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.

Routine vaccinations are shots for polio, measles, mumps and rubella for children and meningitis for teenagers, said Kao-Ping Chua, an associate professor at the University of Michigan who oversaw the study.

Researchers looked at data from the Michigan Care Improvement Registry from 2017 to 2023. The registry documents the vaccinations an individual has received, he said.

They found that childhood immunizations dropped from 75.7% to 66.8% during the study period, while adolescent immunizations fell to 74.5% from 80.7%.

The COVID-19 [Read More]

By AMANDA SEITZ & JULIE APPLEBY

One family in Virginia Beach, Virginia, just found out their health plan’s deductible will jump from $800 to $20,000 next year. About 200 miles north, in Maryland, another household learned they’ll pay $500 more monthly to insure their brood in 2026. And thousands of people in Idaho were greeted with insurance rates that’ll cost, on average, $100 more every month.

As shopping season opens for Affordable Care Act plans in some states, customers are confronting staggering costs for their health insurance next year. The extra federal subsidies put in place in 2021 that made coverage more affordable for millions of people will expire at the end of [Read More]

By KAITLYN DELBENE
Wachler & Associates, PC

This year has seen a continued emphasis within the federal administration on identifying fraud within the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Increasingly, audit findings, as well as other investigatory efforts by CMS and federal partners, are leading to healthcare fraud investigations. This trend has picked up steam in recent months, and CMS has made various announcements telegraphing its efforts to combat fraud and abuse in federal healthcare programs. Providers should be aware of enforcement trends and consider seeking a legal or compliance review of their documentation and billing practices.

In June 2025, the Justice Department and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the results of an [Read More]

By KIMBERLY J. RUPPEL
Dickinson Wright

It has been a busy year for the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) enforcement efforts against non-compete restrictive covenants in employment agreements.  During President Biden’s administration in 2024, the FTC issued a rule banning non-compete provisions in employment agreements with certain exceptions (the “Rule”).  That led to immediate litigation challenging the FTC’s authority.  Appeals were pending in two federal Circuits until early September of this year, at which time the FTC voluntarily withdrew both appeals, acknowledging the over-breadth of the Rule.  In doing so, the Trump administration’s FTC Chairman, Andrew Ferguson, indicated that the FTC would continue its enforcement actions on a case-by-case basis.

This statement was emphasized [Read More]

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

Implicit Bias Training Removed From Health License Requirements Under Bill

The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) couldn’t require a health professional to complete an implicit bias training to obtain or renew a license under Rep. Matt Maddock (R-Milford)’s HB 4915 .

“Picture this, every state is like a large swimming pool. Some states have warm water, clear water, like Florida, some states like New York and California have murky water, cold water. And every state has to attract people and businesses, right? So everyone wants to jump into a nice, warm swimming pool with clear water. Unfortunately, Michigan has [Read More]

By PAUL NATINSKY

In the dizzying storm of deregulation and preposterous policy there is so much to sort that some small, but significant developments get only footnote treatment.

Far behind wholesale healthcare coverage cuts, fringe vaccine policy and a baseless assault on acetaminophen during pregnancy, lies Michigan Medicine and Corewell Health’s sudden discontinuance of gender-affirming care for transgender minors, reported by Crain’s Detroit Business Sept. 15.

Seems like just another liability-avoidant preemptive move by a company responding to pernicious and unpredictable federal policy. But it’s not. It’s worse.

Public pressure can work to limit—or reverse—coverage cuts, pediatricians and primary care docs can join together and press ahead with science-based vaccine schedules and push back [Read More]

By ANNA CLARK

This story first appeared in ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

Just 15 months after receiving an award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for excellence in community water fluoridation, the city of Grayling, Michigan, changed course.

With little notice or fanfare, council members voted unanimously in May to end Grayling’s decadeslong treatment program. The city shut down the equipment used to deliver the drinking water additive less than two weeks later.

Although it already paid for them, the town returned six unopened barrels of the fluoride treatment to the supplier.

Personal choice was the issue, [Read More]