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 Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health
Friday Notes
Friday Notes is intended to share current information, resources and notices.
If you have information or announcements that you would like to have included in an upcoming issue, please forward them to MCMCH.
August 5, 2011
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House Action Anticipated on Necessary Claims Tax Legislation
Much anticipated action in the House of Representatives on Senate Bills 347 and 348 will likely begin on Wednesday with a vote in the House Appropriations Committee. The bills repeal the current 6 percent use tax paid by managed care organizations and replace it with a 1 percent tax on health insurance claims. As we have shared previously, passage of the bills is assumed in the already enacted '11-'12 state budget. The federal government has signaled it will soon disallow the use tax, making the new assessment in SB 348 crucial to ensuring the 2011-12 Medicaid budget is balanced. If passed, SB 348 will raise an estimated $400 million on health insurance claims and leverage another $800 million in federal Medicaid matching funds. MCMCH has been working with other health care organizations in Lansing to urge members of the House to finish work on these bills to avoid a $1.2 billion hole in the DCH budget. With the administration identifying reductions in Medicaid provider rates as the most likely place the shortfall would be recouped if SB 348 is not enacted, our advocacy has focused around several simple messages: - Medicaid provider rates are already perilously low and result in limited access to services. Any further decline in rates will only contribute to this problem. - Specifically in maternal and child health, Medicaid provider rates continue to contribute to a lack of access to quality prenatal care that results in more pre-term delivery. Premature birth is the most prevalent indicator of infant mortality as well as further health complications for children. - Family practice physicians, obstetricians/gynecologists and pediatricians that make up the continuum of basic care in maternal and child health have some of the highest percentages of Medicaid patients. A significant drop in the provider rates will jeopardize their operations and can result in loss of access to that provider for the entire community. Local advocacy focused at members of the House Appropriations Committee would be particularly helpful before Wednesday, August 10. Please contact the following members to share the points above as well as how further reductions in Medicaid rates would impact access and care in your community. House Appropriations Committee members Charles Moss (R), Committee Chair, 40th District
Joseph Haveman (R), Majority Vice-Chair, 90th District
David Agema (R), 74th District
Robert J. Genetski II (R), 88th District
Eileen Kowall (R), 44th District
Matthew J. Lori (R), 59th District
William Rogers (R), 66th District
Jon Bumstead (R), 100th District
Kevin Cotter (R), 99th District
Anthony G. Forlini (R), 24th District
Ken Goike (R), 33rd District
Nancy E. Jenkins (R), 57th District
Peter MacGregor (R), 73rd District
Greg MacMaster (R), 105th District
Earl Poleski (R), 64th District
Al Pscholka (R), 79th District
Phil Potvin (R), 102nd District
Richard LeBlanc (D), Minority Vice-Chair, 18th District
Jim Ananich (D), 49th District
Joan Bauer (D), 68th District
Brandon Dillon (D), 75th District
Frederick C. Durhal Jr. (D), 6th District
Shanelle Jackson (D), 9th District
Steven Lindberg (D), 109th District
Ellen Cogen Lipton (D), 27th District
Sean McCann (D), 60th District
Rashida Tlaib (D), 12th District For contact information, please use the committee page or the House of Representatives contact page.
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HHS: Women's Preventive Services, Including Birth Control, Must Be Fully Covered
Historic new guidelines intended to ensure women receive preventive health services at no additional cost were announced this week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They follow on recommendations from a report issued July 19 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
The new guidelines require new health insurance plans, beginning August 1, 2012, to cover women's preventive services such as well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, domestic violence screening, and contraception without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or a deductible.
The administration also released an amendment to the prevention regulation that allows religious institutions that offer insurance to their employees the choice of whether or not to cover contraception services.
In Michigan a group of House Democrats introduced a package in June, which includes the requirement that insurers include contraceptives under prescription coverage (HB 4805, HB 4806, HB 4807, HB 4808, HB 4809, HB 4810, HB 4811, HB 4812, HB 4813, and HB 4814).
One of the sponsors, Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright said the federal ruling is better because it doesn't require a co-pay, co-insurance or a deductible for contraceptives, Gongwer News Service reported this week. The Michigan legislation would have required contraceptives to be covered, but still subject the purchase to an insurance policy's co-pay schedule. While the House bills would have put a start date of January 1 on the books, the legislation faced a steep hill gaining support in the Legislature. The package also includes requirements for pharmacists to fill prescriptions without bias and age-appropriate sex education to be taught in schools, as well as mandate insurers cover pap-smears and infertility treatments (if other pregnancy-related benefits are provided).
For more information on the HHS guidelines for expanding women's preventive services, you can view the factsheet on healthcare.gov here; and read the full guidelines here.
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DCH Deputy Director and New CSHCS Director Announced
Last week Director Olga Dazzo named Nick Lyon Chief Deputy Director for MDCH. Lyon will oversee day-to-day operations of the department's following administrations: Medical Services, Operations, Public Health, Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The Office of Recipient Rights and the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council will have a dual reporting relationship to Lyon and Dazzo. Lyon previously served as Deputy Director of MDCH's Operations Administration. In that capacity, he was responsible for the development and implementation of the $14 billion budget for all Medicaid, Behavioral Health, Public Health, Aging and other MDCH programs. He had previously served in this position from 2003 until his 2008 appointment as Deputy Director of the Health Policy and Regulation Administration.
In other DCH news Lonnie Barnett was appointed Director of the Children's Special Health Care Services Division, effective August 22. Barnett has been the Manager for the Health Planning and Access to Care Section most recently, and has almost 20 years of state and local experience in health assessment, health planning, primary care systems development, workforce development, and the uses of data to inform and develop policy. Barnett has been a manager at the MDCH since 1998, where he serves as the State Primary Care Office Director and the Healthy People 2020 State Coordinator. He also serves as Director for the Student/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health program (SEARCH), which was initiated in Michigan in 2009, additionally he directed the Michigan State Planning Project for the Uninsured. __________________________________________________________________________________ |
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Contributors to this Issue
AHIP HI-Wire
Gongwer News Service
HealthDay
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Quick Links . . .
Save the Date: Infant Mortality Summit October 17
A date and location for the planned infant mortality summit has been set. The summit will be held on Monday, October 17 at the Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest.
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Michigan Green Healthcare Conferece: October 5
The Michigan Green Healthcare Conference will be held at the Park Place Hotel in Traverse City on October 5. This hotel is a Michigan Green Lodging facility and has attained Steward Certification. The brochure and registration information will be available mid-August. Contact Paige Hathaway with questions.
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AHA: Proposed HIPAA Disclosure Rule 'Misguided'
The American Hospital Association sent a letter this week urging the HHS Office for Civil Rights to drop the proposed HIPAA rule that would allow patients to ask for a report on who accessed their electronic health records.
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High Dose of Yeast Infection Drug Linked to Birth Defects, FDA Says
Pregnant women who take ongoing, high doses of the drug fluconazole (brand name Diflucan) may be at increased risk of having babies with birth defects, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned this week.
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Violence Against Women Can Take Lifelong Toll: Study Women who've suffered from gender-based violence are more likely to develop anxiety disorders or other mental woes, experience physical and mental disabilities, and have worse quality of life than other women, new research shows.
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More Kids Eating Calorie-Packed Take-out Food
The obesity epidemic is being fueled still further by a growing trend among kids to eat out and bring take-out food home, University of North Carolina researchers say.
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The Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health is made up of
member organizations who share a commitment to the health of
Michigan's women, children and families.
To learn more go to http://www.mcmch.org or email info@mcmch.org.
Amy Zaagman - Executive Director - azaagman@mcmch.org
Jennifer Gorchow - Communications Manager - jgorchow@mcmch.org
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