9&10 News aired a story Nov. 11 about how health insurance rate increases will lead to lower health insurance enrollment, harming healthcare access.
MHA CEO Brian Peters is quoted in the story expressing the need to protect existing healthcare coverage tools, such as the enhanced premium tax credits.
“We cannot afford to do any more damage to what is already a fragile healthcare ecosystem in the state of Michigan,” said Peters.
Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.
The MHA received news coverage during the week of June 9 that included local TV news stories on the Michigan House of Representatives passing a bill that would have the state join the National Nurse Licensure Compact and how federal funding cuts to Medicaid would impact northern Michigan, while the MHA also responded to a hospital drug pricing study story by the Lansing State Journal.
Adam Carlson, senior vice president, advocacy, MHA, speaks with WILX News 10 about the current nurse shortage.
WILX News 10 aired a story June 12 following the 57-52 vote by the Michigan House to have Michigan join more than 40 other states in the nursing compact. Adam Carlson, senior vice president, advocacy, MHA, was interviewed for the story, discussing the current shortage of nurses in hospitals, despite Michigan outperforming the national average retention rate for nurses.
“14% of Michigan nurses are turning over, which is lower than the national average, so Michigan is already doing an above-average job and doing a better job than most other states,” said Carlson. “It’s about trying to find those new ones and bring those new ones in.”
9&10 News also aired a story June 9 about how proposed Medicaid cuts could result in the loss of OB/GYN services in northern Michigan. MHA Executive Vice President Laura Appel spoke to 9&10 News about how having to travel to access healthcare services can impact long-term health.
“You’re traveling a greater distance for any problems you have, and the further that people have to travel, especially people with limited means, the less likely they are to be able to adhere to the best care plan that we might have for them,” said Appel.
The Lansing State Journal also published an article June 9 on a study released by the Michigan Health Purchasers Coalition (MIHPC) related to hospital drug pricing. The MIHPC published their report despite published studies by KFF that conclude price transparency data should not be used to draw broad conclusions about hospital pricing. Appel was interviewed for the piece, expressing the inability to verify the information from the MIHPC, the flaws associated with how they present inpatient drug prices for drugs predominantly administered in an outpatient setting and the lengths hospitals are going to minimize costs.
“Payers are trying to do what they can to keep costs down,” said Appel. “Hospitals are trying to do what they can to keep costs down. Patients are trying to do what they can to keep their out-of-pocket costs down. Everybody’s trying to pull the boat in the same direction, but there are just outside pressures that make our healthcare system somewhat costly and growing. And hopefully we can keep the growth at a minimum, but it takes a lot of effort.”
Lastly, Gongwer published an article June 13 following a press release issued by Gov. Whitmer on a memo from the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services sharing 120,000 Michiganders could lose healthcare access if the Federal budget reconciliation legislation passed by U.S. House of Representatives is signed into law. MHA CEO Brian Peters is quoted in the press release and story.
“These proposed changes will cut healthcare coverage for countless individuals, making Michigan unhealthier and leading to worse outcomes and higher rates of uncompensated care,” said Peters. “Increasing health care costs and reducing access is a bad deal that Michigan hospitals uniformly oppose.”
Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.
The MHA received media coverage the week of April 7 on potential Medicaid funding cuts, pediatric behavioral health and healthcare costs.
9&10 News aired a story April 9 on potential federal Medicaid funding cuts. MHA Executive Vice President Laura Appel spoke with 9&10 News, explaining how the cuts would specifically impact rural healthcare. Representatives from McLaren Health Care and Munson Healthcare also appeared in the story.
“In our rural areas, we have small populations, and some of them are also shrinking, which makes it that much harder to sustain certain services because of the fixed costs being spread over so few people,” said Appel. “When we lose a labor and delivery unit, we lose it for that entire population.”
Second Wave Michigan published a story April 8 about how Michigan hospitals are improving pediatric behavioral healthcare. Lauren LaPine, MHA senior director of legislative and public policy, spoke with Second Wave Michigan about the MHA’s behavioral health work, focusing particularly on the $50 million state grant the MHA served as the fiduciary for to expand inpatient pediatric behavioral health capacity in the state. LaPine also highlighted the data the MHA collected regarding emergency department boarding, which shows at least 155 people at any point, including 17 children, are in an emergency department awaiting behavioral health care.
“Our data in Michigan reflects some of the trends that we see nationally in terms of the increasing need for behavioral health services for children and youth,” said LaPine. “So, we are paying really close attention to that need and want to make sure that our member hospitals and health systems are able to address the need when pediatric patients and their families come to the hospital in a behavioral health crisis.”
Lastly, Crain’s published a story April 9 about the role of hospitals regarding rising healthcare costs. MHA CEO Brian Peters is quoted in the story, explaining how the majority of rising costs are due to responding to market trends for labor, as well as rising costs for facilities, drugs and supplies.
“The largest expense for hospitals is labor … A large component to increased healthcare costs for hospitals is making sure healthcare workers are appropriately and competitively compensated so they can provide care to patients when and where they need it,” said Peters.
Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.
9&10 News aired a story Nov. 11 about how health insurance rate increases will lead to lower health insurance enrollment, harming healthcare access.
