Tag: John Karasinski

Headline Roundup: House Budget Reaction

Member News, MHA In The News

The MHA received a host of media coverage from across the state during the week of Aug. 25 after the MHA issued a media statement reacting to the state budget bill passed Aug. 26 by the Michigan House of Representatives.

House Bill 4706 would institute several harmful changes to hospital funding, which could result in more than 20,000 job losses in Michigan hospitals. The statement from MHA CEO Brian Peters expressed the MHA’s strong opposition to this version of the state budget, expressing the harmful consequences it would bring and the need for a state budget that protects existing hospital funding.

Friday, Aug. 29

Thursday, Aug. 28

Wednesday, Aug. 27

Tuesday, Aug. 26

Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.

Speakers Announced for 2025 Communications Retreat

Member News

The MHA has confirmed speakers and topics for the 2025 MHA Communications Retreat scheduled Wednesday, Oct. 1 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Henry Center for Executive Development in Lansing.

The lineup features:

  • Tim McIntyre, experienced communicator and former Domino’s Pizza executive, who will share insights on reputation management, drawing parallels between his experiences and the issues hospitals face today, including rebuilding trust, creating transparency and simplifying the patient experience.
  • A crisis communication panel will feature MHA members, including Catherine Dewey, regional marketing communications manager, Munson Healthcare, and will highlight lessons learned from past crises in healthcare. The session will be led by crisis communications expert Jeff Gaunt, founder and principal of Gaunt Strategies, who will also facilitate a tabletop simulation where attendees respond to an incident in real time. Additional speakers will be announced as they’re confirmed.
  • Laura Appel, executive vice president, government relations & public policy, MHA, will provide an update on state and federal healthcare priorities.

This event is designed specifically for professionals working in public relations, communications, media relations, marketing and community relations within Michigan hospitals. We encourage members of these professions to register and participate.

Additional event details, including registration information, are available on the 2025 Communications Retreat webpage.

Members with questions regarding registration should contact Kennedy Walters at the MHA. Questions regarding the retreat should be directed to John Karasinski at the MHA.

Media Recap: Medicaid and Healthcare Costs

Member News, Issues in Healthcare, MHA In The News

The MHA received media coverage during the week of Aug. 18 that continued to focus on the impact the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will have on Medicaid as well as comments related to the impact hospital consolidations have on healthcare access.

Gongwer published a story Aug. 20 on the impact hospital consolidations have on healthcare costs and access to care for employees. MHA CEO Brian Peters was quoted in the article disputing the claim that hospitals are profiteers.

“Bashing community hospitals and the 220,000 hospital workers who show up every day of the year to care for Michigan patients is misguided and inflammatory,” said Peters. “Hospitals are focused on providing safe, high-quality, affordable care in every community they serve.”

NPR also published a story following an interview with Peters regarding the impact the OBBBA and new work requirements will have on healthcare in Michigan.

“The state of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has estimated that as many as 700,000 Michiganders could lose coverage because of the reconciliation bill,” said Peters.

The new work requirements will necessitate that hundreds of thousands of enrollees document their eligibility every six months. Peters noted in the interview that there’s no evidence of widespread waste and abuse in the state’s Medicaid program.

“When you look at the Medicaid population here in the state of Michigan, we know that almost all of those folks are working and working full time,” said Peters.

Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.

MHA Monday Report Aug. 11, 2025

Member News, Monday Report

MHA Trustee Webinar Outlines Information and Planning for the OBBBA

The MHA will host the webinar Understanding the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and Board Planning for the Impact from 8 to 9 a.m. ET Sept. 24. The session will explore how the OBBBA …

CMS Releases FY 2026 Final Rule for Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a final rule to update the Medicare fee-for-service prospective payment system for inpatient psychiatric facilities for fiscal year (FY) 2026. Key provisions …

CMS Releases FY 2026 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a final rule to update the Medicare fee-for-service inpatient prospective payment system for fiscal year (FY) 2026. Highlights of the final rule include: …

MHA Podcast Explores Healthcare Priorities with 2025-2026 Board Chair Bill Manns

The MHA released a new episode of the MiCare Champion Cast exploring what’s top of mind in healthcare as the 2025-2026 program year kicks off. The episode, hosted by MHA CEO Brian Peters, features MHA …

Keckley Report

July 2025 Actions are the Turning Point for U.S. Healthcare

“July 2025 will be the month U.S. healthcare leaders recognize as the industry’s modern turning point. Consider…

Collectively, these actions reflect rejection of the health industry by the GOP-led Congress. It follows 15 years of support vis a vis the Affordable Care Act (2010) and pandemic recovery emergency funding (2020-2021). In that 15-year period, the bigger players got bigger in each sector, investment of private equity in each sector became more prevalent, costs increased, affordability for consumers and employers decreased, and the public’s overall satisfaction with the health system declined precipitously. …

The landscape for U.S. healthcare is fundamentally changed as a result of the July actions noted above. It is compounded by public anxiety about the economy at home and global tensions abroad.

These July actions were a turning point for the industry: responding appropriately will require fresh ideas and statesmanship. Transparency about prices, costs, incentives and performance is table stakes. Leaders dedicated to the greater good will be the difference.”

Paul Keckley, Aug. 3, 2025

New to KnowNews to Know

MHA Endorsed Business Partner Vault Verify is hosting a live webinar on HR’s Growing Role in Data Protection from 1 to 2 p.m. ET Aug. 13.

Lauren LaPineMHA in the News

The MHA received media coverage the week of Aug. 4 on hospital cost pressures, behavioral health partnerships and the impact of Medicaid cuts. Gongwer published a story Aug. 4 about a PricewaterhouseCoopers report that reviews …

MHA Monday Report Aug. 4, 2025

Member News, Monday Report

HRSA Announces 340B Rebate Pilot; President Trump Pens Letter on Most Favored Nation Pricing

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) issued guidance July 31 on a proposal to shift a portion of the 340B drug pricing program away from an upfront discount model to a rebate model. HRSA …

MDHHS to Discuss 2026 Draft Rates for MichiCANS and LOCUS Assessments

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) invites qualified mental health providers to attend a MichiCANS Screener and Level of Care Utilization System (LOCUS) All Provider Draft Rate meeting scheduled from 1 – 2 p.m. …

CMS Releases CY 26 PFS Proposed Rule

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a proposed rule to update the physician fee schedule (PFS) for calendar year (CY) 2026. Highlights of the proposal include: Implementing the one-time 2.5% statutory …

MHA Rounds graphic of Brian PetersMHA CEO Report — Hospitals Are Focused on Saving Both Lives and Costs

Hospitals exist to save lives and improve health. Every day, across every ZIP code in Michigan, our community hospitals are the place where babies are born, cancer is fought, lives are saved and families turn in their most vulnerable moments for hope, help and healing. …

Keckley Report

Medicare Report Card on its 60th Birthday: Incomplete

“Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of Medicare. On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Social Security Act (HR 6675) at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, MO issuing the first Medicare card to “Give ‘em hell Harry” who had proposed universal coverage in 1945 against fierce opposition from the American Medical Association who labelled it socialized medicine.

The program began in January 1966 enrolling 19 million in its Part A (hospital) and Part B (ambulatory, physicians) programs. The country was divided over the contentious war in Vietnam and civil rights at home. In the six decades since, the Medicare program has expanded to become the industry’s most important program and society’s most valued safety net. …

So, on Medicare’s 60th birthday, its legacy is a mixed bag: it has provided needed health services to three generations of seniors, but its costs and failure to hardwire an appropriate balance between preventive, chronic and acute and long-term care services remain work not completed.”

Paul Keckley, July 27, 2025

New to KnowNews to Know

  • Registration is open for the 2025 MHA Communications Retreat from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at the Henry Center for Executive Development in Lansing.
  • The AHA is accepting applications through Sept. 9 for the Quest for Quality Prize, an annual award that honors hospitals and health systems committed to leadership and innovation in improving quality and advancing health.

Laura AppelMHA in the News

The MHA received media coverage during the week of July 28 that continued to focus on the impact the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will have on Medicaid. WZZM 13 published a story July …

News Coverage Continues Focus on Medicaid

Member News, MHA In The News
Laura Appel

The MHA received media coverage during the week of July 28 that continued to focus on the impact the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will have on Medicaid.

Bridge published an op-ed Aug. 1 from MHA CEO Brian Peters refuting public claims defending Medicaid funding cuts in the OBBBA. Peters describes how the cuts will have real consequences for real people, spanning all populations.

“When hospitals lose Medicaid dollars, the burden shifts to other patients, including those with employer-sponsored insurance,” said Peters. “Costs go up. Wait times increase. Local access to specialty care dries up. Employers and families alike will feel the ripple effects, both in their insurance premiums and at the distance they must travel for care.”

WZZM 13 published a story July 30 on the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid being established by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The story references a media statement published by the MHA on the subject.

Laura AppelA story also aired July 30 during the FOX 47 evening news broadcast about how Medicaid changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will impact rural healthcare providers. MHA Executive Vice President Laura Appel was interviewed as part of the story.

Appel also appears in a Crain’s Detroit Business article about healthcare affordability that was sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM). Representatives from various Michigan businesses and healthcare groups were invited to join BCBSM and Crain’s in the executive roundtable.

Appel spoke to the cost pressures impacting hospitals and the role hospitals have in addressing rising healthcare costs.

“Most hospitals across our state are looking for those partnerships because they can’t afford to do it on their own,” said Appel in relation to hospitals pursuing mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.

Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.

MHA Monday Report July 28, 2025

Member News, Monday Report

MHA Shares Recent Medicare and Medicaid Enrollment Analysis

The MHA recently updated its analysis of Medicaid and Medicare enrollment based on June 2025 data. The analysis includes program enrollment as a percentage of each county’s total population and the split between fee-for-service and …

Registration Open for 2025 Communications Retreat

Registration is open for the 2025 MHA Communications Retreat from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at the Henry Center for Executive Development in Lansing. The daylong event offers hospital communicators a …

New PwC Report Warns of Rising Hospital Costs and Mounting Financial Pressure on U.S. Healthcare System

The MHA is drawing attention to a new national report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that outlines the severe financial challenges facing hospitals across the country that could soon jeopardize patient care …

MI AIM Hosting Regional Quality Improvement Training Sessions in the Fall

The Michigan Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (MI AIM) is inviting inpatient clinicians from birthing units across Michigan to its fall regional training sessions. The half-day trainings will be facilitated by maternal health experts …

Keckley Report

Gut Punches for Healthcare and Hospitals: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the CMS Proposed Rule

“The healthcare industry is still licking its wounds from $1 trillion in federal funding cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed into law July 4. Adding insult to injury, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services issued a 913-page proposed rule last Tuesday that includes unwelcome changes especially troublesome for hospitals i.e. adoption of site neutral payments, expansion of hospital price transparency requirements, reduction of inpatient-only services, acceleration of hospital 340B discount repayment obligations and more. …

The antipathy toward the healthcare industry among the public  and in Congress played a key role in passage of the OBBBA and regulatory changes likely to follow. Polls show three-fourths of likely voters want to see transformational change to healthcare and two-thirds think the industry is more concerned with its profit over their care: these views lend to hostile regulatory changes. The public and the majority of elected officials think the industry prioritizes protection of the status quo over obligations to serve communities and the greater good. The result: winners and losers in each sector, lack of continuity and interoperability, runaway costs and poor outcomes. No sector in healthcare stands as the surrogate for the health and wellbeing of the population. There are well-intended players in each sector who seek the moral high ground for healthcare, but their boards and leaders put short-term sustainability above long-term systemness and purpose. That void needs to be filled.”

Paul Keckley, July 20, 2025

New to KnowNews to Know

  • Join MHA Endorsed Business Partner CyberForce|Q for the in-person Coffee & Collab for Cybersecurity Leaders Aug. 19 from 9:30 – 11 a.m. ET at the MHA headquarters in Okemos.
  • MHA Endorsed Business Partner CorroHealth recently hosted the webinar Price Transparency in 2025: What’s Required, What’s Coming, What to do Now and a recording is now available on the CorroHealth On-Demand platform along with additional resources.

 

MHA in the News

The MHA received media coverage during the week of July 21 that focused on setting the record straight about the impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on hospitals. The Detroit News published …

Setting the Record Straight on OBBBA Impacts

Member News, MHA In The News

The MHA received media coverage during the week of July 21 that focused on setting the record straight about the impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) on hospitals.

The Detroit News published an opinion response from MHA CEO Brian Peters and Michigan League for Public Policy President and CEO Monique Stanton about the harmful consequences to Michiganders and healthcare from the OBBBA. This response follows an editorial from The Detroit News published July 12 that defended the cuts to Medicaid.

“Michigan hospitals are bracing for a $6 billion loss in Medicaid funding over the next decade,” said Peters and Stanton. “When coverage declines, so do reimbursements, but the volume of those seeking care does not. That means fewer resources to staff emergency rooms, provide specialty care or keep maternity units open. When that happens, everyone, not just Medicaid recipients, feels the impact.”

MHA Executive Vice President Laura Appel also appeared on The WILS Morning Wake-up on WILS-AM 1320 in Lansing on July 22 to discuss the OBBBA with host Mike Austin.

Lastly, Peters also provided a statement for a FOX 47 story on July 24 expressing the MHA’s opposition to Senate Bills 296 and 297, which would limit any hospital’s ability to require mandatory overtime to just during declared emergencies.

“Requiring nurses to work overtime is rarely used, but hospitals and nursing leaders need the flexibility to make decisions that may require staff to work outside of their normal schedules to ensure patient care when unforeseen circumstances occur in their local communities,” said Peters.

Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.

Registration Open for 2025 Communications Retreat

Member News

Registration is open for the 2025 MHA Communications Retreat from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at the Henry Center for Executive Development in Lansing.

The daylong event offers hospital communicators a chance to connect with peers across the state and participate in sessions that provide valuable skills and insights for both emerging and experienced professionals.

The event will explore topics including crisis communications, reputation management and professional development for communications leaders. Additionally, leaders at the MHA will provide an update on state and federal healthcare priorities.

This event is designed specifically for professionals working in public relations, communications, media relations, marketing and community relations within Michigan hospitals. Members of these professions are encouraged to register and participate.

The registration fee is $35 per person. Breakfast, refreshments and lunch will be provided. Please register by Sept. 19 to attend the retreat.

A room block at the Henry Center is available for members who need accommodations the night of Sept. 30. Please use code MHH to receive the discounted room block rate.

Members with questions regarding registration should contact Kennedy Walters at the MHA. Questions regarding the retreat should be directed to John Karasinski at the MHA.

Headline Roundup: Continued OBBBA Coverage

Member News, Issues in Healthcare, MHA In The News, Top Issues - Healthcare

The MHA continued to receive media coverage during the week of July 14 about the impacts of the federal budget reconciliation bill, officially referred to as the One Big Beautiful Big Act (OBBBA).

Coverage includes references to the association’s financial estimates, as well as quotes from MHA CEO Brian Peters and MHA Executive Vice President Laura Appel.

Wednesday, July 16

Tuesday, July 15

Monday, July 14

Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.