Terminally ill patients in Michigan, determined to have up to six months left to live, could request life-ending medication under bills the Legislature could likely take up next year.

“We wanted to make sure to introduce it before this holiday season in order to continue to work with stakeholders, for (it), against (it)…or even people that might have questions,” said Sen. Mary CAVANAGH (D-Redford Twp.), the lead sponsor behind this term’s “Death with Dignity” bill package, to MIRS. “But, it is not my intent to shove anything down that we haven’t had full vetting and full conversations of what is the best thing for Michigan, and who might be utilizing some of these [Read More]

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bipartisan legislative package at Sparrow Hospital last month that would increase the punishment leveled against people, excluding patients, that assault health care workers.

As she signed HB 4520 and HB 4521 , sponsored by Reps. Mike Mueller (R-Linden) and Kelly Breen (D-Novi), Whitmer was surrounded by nurses and doctors, who she said were facing an increase of violence, even as they faced a shortage of workers. Her response was signing this legislation into law, which could help stem the tide.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to the doctors, nurses, and health care workers who routinely step up to protect our communities and save lives,” Whitmer said. “Unfortunately, health care workers face rising rates of bullying, [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
Healthcare is not for the faint of heart. I’m not speaking of exposure to blood, trauma, distress, violence, and death – but there’s that, too.  Rather, I’m playing my violin for the healthcare warriors who are dealing with a new era of healthcare in a post-pandemic world. These are frontline nurses, physicians, phlebotomists, clerks, medical assistants, x-ray, ultrasound and med techs, midwives, social workers and behavioral health specialists. But they are also administrators, hiring managers and recruiters, payors, financial personnel and office managers.

This is not an exhaustive list; the healthcare world is simply too massive to capture every role in this column. The overarching commonality, though, is that [Read More]

By KAITLYN DELBENE
Wachler & Associates, PC
The Michigan State Medical Society and various specialty organizations are urging the Michigan Attorney General to investigate the role of private equity in healthcare and to enforce Michigan’s corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) doctrine against apparent violations. In an October 23, 2023 letter, MSMS expressed concern that “a series of deceptive legal loopholes and shell corporations” has allowed private equity groups to effectively circumvent Michigan’s CPOM laws. While physician practice management companies and medical staffing companies are common in the healthcare industry, physician groups and management companies must be aware of the legal and regulatory challenges presented by these arrangements.

CPOM Primer: Michigan’s CPOM [Read More]

By RALPH Z. LEVY & BRIAN S. FLEETHAM

Successful negotiation of physician employment agreements requires a careful balance of the objectives of the prospective employer with those of the prospective employee while ensuring that the negotiated agreement complies with the federal and state laws that apply to agreements of this type.  The prospective employer wants to make certain it has enough professionals to handle the needs of its patients, and the prospective employee wants to be paid adequately and fairly for services provided while preserving a work-personal life balance.  If the agreement “blows up,” the prospective employer wants protection against the physician “stealing” its patients, and the prospective employee [Read More]

Michigan’s Unique Drug Immunity Statute Is No More

(FLINT) A Gov. John Engler-era law that shields drug manufacturers from liability if their medicine received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval was flushed down the toilet late last month.

With Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature, Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor)’s SB 410 ends the 1995 Michigan Product Liability Act, a statute House Democrats and Democrats et al. used with some success on the campaign trail about 15 years ago.

The bill, which received bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, will end Michigan’s status as the only state with what Whitmer called an “immunity shield in place.”

Joined by bill sponsor Irwin, who Whitmer said has been working to overturn immunity [Read More]

By BRAM SABLE-SMITH

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — As activists parse the results of a Nov. 8 vote to protect abortion rights in Ohio, Jamie Corley is already well on her way to putting a similar measure in front of Missouri voters next year.

Corley, a former Republican congressional staffer, filed not one, but six potential ballot measures in August to roll back her state’s near-total ban on abortion, triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to end federal protections for terminating pregnancies.

“I can’t emphasize enough how dangerous it is to be pregnant in Missouri right now,” Corley said at a restaurant near her home in this St. Louis suburb. “There is a [Read More]

By SUSAN ADELMAN, MD
When lawyers and legislators talk about abortion, they often struggle to define viability, but the matter is much more complicated than most of them acknowledge. The classic Supreme Court case Roe versus Wade claims that viability starts at the third trimester, which they interpret as meaning 28 weeks gestation. British law has settled on 24 weeks. American state laws vary from 20 to 25 weeks.  The problem is that whether or not a fetus would be viable outside of the womb depends on many factors.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology explains that “many other factors…influence viability, such as sex, genetics, weight, circumstances around delivery, and availability [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
I wrote last month about my admiration for The Salvation Army’s outreach efforts to combat the social determinants of health through its services to the hungry, the homeless, and those with substance use disorder or other difficult life challenges. This month, I want to extend my admiration to the payors and partners who joined The Salvation Army and MedNetOne in a new program aimed at ramping up numbers for Medicaid Renewal.

Some background. As the federal government seeks to redetermine who is qualified for Medicaid following a pandemic-related executive order that extended Medicaid benefits without proof of continuing qualification, each state is required to champion redetermination and renewal efforts. [Read More]

By ROLF LOWE
On November 2, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced new policies related to the Calendar Year 2024 Physician Fee Schedule intended to improve and promote access to mental health and substance use disorder services to meet the growing demand for these services. In its November 6, 2023, blog discussing the changes[1] CMS identified three areas the policies are intended to address which are expanding the behavioral health workforce, covering gaps in in access to behavioral health services and paying more accurately for behavioral health services.

The types of behavioral practitioners able to enroll in Medicare are being expanded to allow the enrollment [Read More]