The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) recently finalized the educational document that hospitals are now required to provide to parents of newborns under Public Act 250 of 2024 (House Bill 4173 of 2023).
The document outlines enrollment deadlines, steps for submitting documentation and initiating enrollment and explains available types of coverage for parents and guardians with a newborn. Hospitals must distribute the document to parents as part of the insurance enrollment process for newborns.
Members with additional questions should contact the MHA Advocacy Team.
Laura Appel, executive vice president of government relations and public policy, MHA (middle) pictured during a presentation at the Midwest Zone meeting of NAIC.
Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services Director Anita Fox invited the MHA and Munson Healthcare to present to the Midwest Zone meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held Sept. 25. The topic was the impact of pharmaceutical costs and complexities on rural hospitals.
Bradley Beaman, clinical utilization pharmacist at Munson Healthcare, shared specific examples of the pharmacy overhead costs confronting all hospitals and how small, rural hospitals have fewer financial resources to manage these costs. The insurance commissioners also heard from Kelly Anderson, Ph.D., MPP, about the patient impact of reducing access to pharmacy services. Kelly Edmiston, policy research manager at the NAIC Center for Insurance Policy and Research, presented on the financial risks facing rural hospitals and the past and current rates of rural hospital closures.
The NAIC Midwest Zone is made up of insurance commissioners and department directors from 13 states. The Commissioners engaged in a lengthy discussion about the fixed costs of hospital pharmacy operations and the role of insurance coverage in assuring access to care for prescription drugs and other services in rural areas of their states. Recommendations from the NAIC Zones become part of the full NAIC policy-making discussion. The MHA is committed to growing its involvement with the NAIC and other national policy-making organizations to influence decision-making that impacts Michigan hospitals.
For more information about this recent meeting and the NAIC, members may contact Laura Appel at the MHA.
The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) recently finalized the educational document that hospitals are now required to provide to parents of newborns under Public Act 250 of 2024 (House Bill 4173 of 2023).
