We apologize for the lengthy absence but we're are back at it this week and we have a lot to cover, so lets dive right in! The attempted changes in Michigan's Auto No-Fault system continue to loom in the House. In its current version many members are finding that voting for this would leave a sour taste in their mouths and make them vote on an issues that they really just don't want to vote on. Conversations on this issue have gone quiet for the moment, but we will continue to watch and act when the time is needed.
Last week the Governor Snyder presented his budget to both House and Senate Appropriations committees. On the Health side of things there are some positives and some negatives. On the positive side there will be an increase in Medicaid rates for primary care physicians excluding emergency room physicians to 100% of Medicare rates, which totals just over $281 Million. On the downside the Governor put GME back in his sights and reduced GME another 17% which overall totals 32% from this fiscal year and the coming fiscal year. Now the House and Senate subcommittees will begin to hear testimony from DCH concerning the budget and work to create their own.
The House Health Policy committee has been working on a couple issues, one the consolidation of substance abuse with community mental health and the other requiring reimbursement for telemedicine. The committee next week looks to vote on the telemedicine issue while the other issue was voted out of committee. The committee of the next few weeks thought will be Judiciary. The House Judiciary committee began taking testimony on changes to Michigan's Marihuana Act, providing changes to the act including defining what a bona-fide patient/physician relationship is. In the coming weeks the committee will take public testimony.
In the Senate, the Senate Health Policy committee will also be starting their Medical Marihuana hearings. MSMS will be taking active roles in both the House and Senate committees by providing testimony to the committee members on the position of the society on this issue.
For an updated calendar of all committee meetings and session schedules go to http://www.msms.org/advocacy.
