“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer.” ― John F. Kennedy
Given that the Michigan Legislature has officially adjourned sine die, it is now an appropriate time to reflect on the success of our MHA advocacy throughout 2023. As always, healthcare was in the spotlight as a political and public policy priority. Our team was incredibly busy as we worked to support bills that would advance the health of individuals and communities, and to oppose those bills that would run counter to our mission.
A full recap of these pertinent bills is available, but I want to lift up a few of particular importance. First, for many years, the MHA has advocated for healthcare workers to have similar protections from violence as other first responders. We’re thankful House Bills 4520 and 4521 that increase the penalties for assaulting a healthcare worker or volunteer are soon to be signed by Gov. Whitmer. We know this legislation is just one step towards improving workplace safety and our association will continue to work on more opportunities to protect the healthcare workforce from violence through our advocacy at the state and federal level, the MHA Keystone Center and the MHA Service Corporation.
In addition, the governor signed legislation that will add protections found in the Affordable Care Act to Michigan law. Public Acts 156-163 of 2023 memorialize important protections for Michiganders, such as no-cost essential services, including preventive, mental health and emergency services. A variety of other bills await the return of the legislature in 2024 on issues including auto no-fault insurance, telemedicine, sharps containers, behavioral health policy, maternal and infant health and more.
Of course, seeing no action besides testimony on House Bills 4550-4552 is another testament to the work of our team. These bills would mandate one-size-fits-all nurse staffing ratios for all Michigan hospitals and create significant access issues for patients. As discussed at length in a recent CEO Report, the MHA has communicated with all 148 state legislators to explain the complexity associated with hospital staffing and the tangible solutions that will actually address workforce shortages. We have significantly increased the awareness and understanding of the issue for lawmakers, and the bills not receiving a vote in committee is an example of our effectiveness in that regard.
In addition to all these policy-oriented items, we successfully advocated to protect Medicaid funding for hospitals, including graduate medical education, rural access and OB stabilization, and also secured new funding for recruitment and retention of healthcare workers and for pediatric behavioral health. And of course, we stood tall to prevent any erosion in our Certificate of Need laws, or our medical liability reform protections, both of which continue to play an important role in ensuring access to quality, affordable care for all.
Our work also extends to Washington DC and Capitol Hill. We continue to work closely with the American Hospital Association on federal advocacy that supports Michigan hospitals on issues including Medicare policy, site-neutral payments, the 340B drug pricing program, the healthcare workforce and much more. And just as we have benefitted tremendously from our partnership with Public Affairs Associates (PAA) as our long-time advocacy firm here in Lansing, we are also pleased with our new partnership with Cornerstone Government Affairs, which is helping us with our important work at the federal level.
We cannot accomplish our advocacy goals without the individual commitment from our member hospitals and health systems, large and small. At the end of the day, our unity is our strength; a great example of this is the unified opposition letter – representing 100% of our membership – that we shared with lawmakers last month in opposition to the nurse staffing legislation.
There is a lot of uncertainty in the year ahead. As widely reported, the state House is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats until special elections are held next April. It is also no secret that 2024 is a presidential election year, with all the political dynamics and theatre that will inevitably accompany the entire process. Finally, depending on the outcome of the November election, the lame-duck session that will follow could either be a low-key affair with not much on the agenda…. or a nerve-wracking period fraught with unexpected twist and turns that could directly impact multiple priority issues. Regardless, I am extremely confident the MHA will continue to deliver outstanding results that support our healthcare workers, our patients and communities.
As always, I welcome your thoughts.