The MHA received media coverage during the week of Nov. 17 covering the Rural Health Transformation Program, the MHA’s Community Impact Report and medical debt.
Bridge published a story Nov. 19 on the Rural Health Transformation Program application submitted by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The article covers the lack of specific focus on rural hospitals in the application, as well as the challenges facing rural hospitals, particularly following the federal H.R. 1 Reconciliation Bill. MHA Executive Vice President Laura Appel is quoted in the article, as well as members of the MHA’s Rural Health Transformation Program Task Force.
“There is nothing here. There was an opportunity to direct as much as 10% of Michigan’s funding towards health care services delivered in hospitals and none of that happened,” said Appel.
The story was also highlighted by The Washington Post in the publication’s Nov. 21 daily newsletter.
The lineup of presenters and topics for the 2025 Communications Retreat includes:
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; Mark Geary, senior director, communications & external affairs, Corewell Health, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A 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.
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.
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.
The MHA testified before the Michigan House Insurance Committee June 11 on healthcare cost issues affecting hospitals and communities across the state.
Laura Appel, executive vice president, government relations & public policy, MHA and Elizabeth Kutter, senior director, government and political affairs, MHA, testified in front of the House Insurance Committee on hospital cost drivers and their impact on hospitals and patients.
Laura Appel, executive vice president, government relations & public policy, MHA and Elizabeth Kutter, senior director, government and political affairs, MHA, testified in front of the House Insurance Committee on hospital cost drivers and their impact on hospitals and patients. Kutter shared that Michigan’s hospitals are more than healthcare providers, serve as economic anchors, stewards of public health and major contributors to community investment. Additionally, Kutter shared data collected by the MHA that Michigan hospitals contributed more than $4.5 billion last year to funding community impact projects like mobile clinics, transportation and housing support, food pharmacies and behavioral health programs.
The testimony also highlighted that hospital expenses are rising nationwide, increasing 5.1 percent in 2024 and outpacing the overall inflation rate of 2.9 percent. These increases are largely driven by labor, prescription drug and supply costs.
Appel provided a detailed explanation on workforce and talent, prescription drugs and supplies as significant cost drivers for hospitals and patients seeking care. Data shared with the committee showed that healthcare is the largest private sector employer in the state, with hospitals employing 222,000 people who provide $10.7 billion a year in tax revenue, and that labor costs typically represent 56% of total expenses for hospitals. In addition, prescription drugs are constantly increasing for hospitals and of the $449 billion spent annually on prescription drugs in the United States, hospitals account for roughly 25 percent of the total. Appel made it clear that hospitals do not set the price of drugs but are subject to the whims of drug manufacturers. It was also shared that supply chain disruptions and inflation continue to affect hospitals’ ability to deliver care. National data shows that per-patient supply costs increased 18.5 percent from 2019 to 2022.
Lastly, Kutter and Appel provided an overview on hospital pricing and reimbursement from commercial insurance. According to the Rand Hospital Price Transparency Study, Michigan had the third lowest average commercial payments relative to Medicare in 2024 and is one of just five states with hospital payments averaging below 200% of Medicare prices. The presentation concluded with a call for working with the legislature to address administrative burdens that impact healthcare access and affordability, and focusing on solutions that keep Michigan a high-quality, lower-cost healthcare state.
Members with additional questions should contact Elizabeth Kutter 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.
WLUC TV6 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula published a story May 29 on the shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds in Michigan, placing a heavy focus on the testimony the MHA delivered May 20 before the House Oversight Subcommittee on Public Health and Food Security.
The story references results from the MHA’s emergency department boarding survey and the annual hospital workforce survey, while also mentioning several proposed solutions.
WNEM-TV also aired a segment May 26 discussing the impact of federal Medicaid funding cuts on the state. MHA Executive Vice President Laura Appel appears in the segment sharing the consequences of the current federal budget reconciliation bill.
Appel was also quoted in a Detroit Free Press story reacting to a hospital drug pricing report published by the Michigan Health Purchasers Coalition. The study uses a limited data set that was not published with the findings to make broad claims about pharmaceutical drug prices in hospitals. Appel discussed the complexity of hospital financing and mentioned the many factors not considered in the study that impact drug pricing.
“We’re all paying attention to affordability and trying to make sure that patients get the care they need without being financially burdened, but we don’t think that the place to start is by placing blame on hospitals, which are really, to some extent, price takers from drug manufacturers,” said Appel.
Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.
The MHA received news coverage during the week of May 19 highlighted by stories related to Mental Health Awareness Month and the need to expand state psychiatric bed capacity.
Lauren LaPine, senior director, legislative and public policy, MHA, speaks during a May 21 press conference on Mental Health Awareness Month, addressing long emergency department waits for psychiatric beds among Medicaid patients.
Lauren LaPine, senior director, legislative and public policy, MHA, joined state lawmakers and University of Michigan Health-Sparrow clinicians during a press conference May 21 about Mental Health Awareness Month. LaPine focused her comments on the high number of patients waiting in emergency departments across the state for an inpatient psychiatric bed. Many of these patients are Medicaid beneficiaries and experience further delays awaiting a clinical assessment.
WILX News 10 and WLNS 6 News attended the press event and aired stories during their evening news broadcasts.
“Last year, for over 18 months, we collected data from our hospitals and health systems that told us that on any given day, there are more than 155 patients that are stuck in emergency departments across the state that are looking for behavioral health services,” said LaPine.
Other speakers included:
Chandu Vemuri, MD, chief medical officer, University of Michigan Health-Sparrow
Dominic Barberio, MD, psychiatrist, University of Michigan Health-Sparrow
Rep. Angela Witwer (D-Delta Township)
Rep. Matthew Bierlein (R-Vassar)
The MHA also provided comment to several stories related to a hospital drug pricing study released by the Michigan Health Purchasers Coalition. The study uses a limited data set of claims data in an attempt to show pricing variances across hospitals for three prescription drugs. MHA Executive Vice President spoke with Crain’s Grand Rapids and WLNS News 6, explaining the differences between hospital charges and what hospitals actually receive as reimbursement, as well as the myriad of factors that determine hospital financing, including legacy contract agreements, mergers and acquisitions, the presence of group purchasing agreements, patient acuity, and labor and overhead costs.
“There are a lot of drugs out there. Picking and choosing a few of them probably doesn’t tell the whole story about the expensive pharmaceuticals in our health care system,” said Appel to Crain’s. “Everybody in the system is trying to do their best. There’s lots of room for improvement, but I don’t think identifying a few items and saying, ‘look at this’ is a way to get us to solving some of the affordability needs that we have for our system for patients.”
Adam Carlson speaks at a Protect MI Care press conference.
Adam Carlson, senior vice president, advocacy, MHA, also spoke at a Protect MI Care coalition press conference May 21 in Lansing about federal Medicaid cuts. Carlson was quoted in an article by Gongwer discussing how the cuts will impact all Michigan residents.
“It’s going to lead to millions of people losing their health insurance coverage, and these funding cuts to Medicaid, they’ll impact access to care for all Michiganders, not just those with Medicaid as their insurance coverage,” said Carlson. “It’s an important program across all state hospitals, but especially for the 65 rural hospitals that depend on it to keep their doors open.”
Members with any questions regarding media requests should contact John Karasinski at the MHA.
The MHA received media coverage during the week of Nov. 17 covering the Rural Health Transformation Program, the MHA’s Community Impact Report and medical debt.
