Tuesday, April 28, 2026     12:00 PM

AGENDA

HB 5739 (Rep. DeBoyer)
Probate: guardians and conservators; powers and duties; modify.

HB 5740 (Rep. Schmaltz)
Probate: guardians and conservators; requirements upon discovery of certain assets; provide for.

HB 5678 (Rep. Rogers)
Health facilities: nursing homes; requirement for unlicensed personnel in nursing homes to complete fall prevention training established by the department; provide for.

HB 5679 (Rep. Meerman)
Labor: job training; fall prevention training; require employers to pay wages to employees for participating in.

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE

• add time to licensing terms, and renewals
• empower LARA with discretion to "toll" certain licenses if hardship is proven "to the satisfaction of the department."

At what point do we just admit that limited licensing is a failed experiment?

It extends shortages; it keeps control with the "in" crowd and state government instead of the patient and clinician at the point of care; and in the end, one either qualifies for full licensing (even to a lower standard), or one does not.

Equally disturbing are bills that set up pediatric care for higher costs and shortages through insurance mandates (4% added to each premium per mandate) and facility licensing (restricting market supply). 

Medical debt facts posted in previous senate bill hearings. 

Wednesday, April 15, 2026     9:00 AM

AGENDA

HB 5074 (Rep. Thompson)
Health occupations: mental health care professionals; number of renewals of temporary or limited licenses; modify.

HB 5251 (Rep. VanderWall)
Human services: medical services; coverage for prescribed pediatric extended care; require.

HB 5252 (Rep. Rogers)
Health facilities: licensing; licensing of prescribed pediatric extended care facilities; provide for.

HB 5254 (Rep. Rigas)
Consumer credit: interest rates; maximum interest rate allowed for medical debt; modify.

HB 5255 (Rep. Pohutsky)
Civil procedure: foreclosure; foreclosure or garnishment of wages for medical debt; prohibit.

SB 449 (Sen. Anthony)
Health facilities: hospitals; hospital financial assistance act; enact.

SB 450 (Sen. Lindsey)
Health facilities: hospitals; certain hospital financial assistance policies; make subject to the hospital financial assistance act.

SB 451 (Sen. Anthony)
Consumer credit: credit reports and reporting agencies; collection and reporting of medical debt information; regulate.

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE

I wrote in 2022:

"Congress repealed the Johnson-era federal CON law in 1986.

Michigan’s CON law persists. Dozens of amendments later, it is highly complex and expensive. Sliding scale fees doubled in 2013. Approval from the politically-appointed CON board can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a planned hospital, HMO, surgical center, hospice, AFC, retirement home, laboratory, or EMS."

https://mihealthfreedom.org/michigan-should-repeal-con-in-2022/

Here, Michigan is nibbling at the edges of CON. It should eliminate the whole body of law.

HB 5709 and HB 5770 have been routed to the House Health Policy Committee. No hearing date set yet.

https://www.beckersasc.com/asc-news/michigan-bills-target-outpatient-fees-con-requirements/

Michigan bills target outpatient fees, CON requirements

Sophie Eydis    |    March 20, 2026

Michigan lawmakers are weighing legislation that would eliminate hospital outpatient facility fees and loosen certificate-of-need requirements for imaging services.

House Bill 5770, introduced March 19, would prohibit hospital outpatient departments from collecting facility fees. The Michigan Health & Hospital Association opposes the bill, arguing such fees offset the cost of 24/7 services, higher-acuity care and support for underserved populations. The MHA warned that site-neutral payment policies could jeopardize patient access to hospital-based outpatient care, according to a March 20 news release.

Separately, House Bill 5709 would eliminate CON requirements for certain imaging services at outpatient centers. The MHA said the change could drive up costs and reduce access in rural and underserved areas by fragmenting service delivery.

Separately, the MHA also reported bills restricting mandatory nurse overtime advanced in the Senate, and legislation to expand assisted outpatient treatment passed the House.

Would the MEs of 20 years ago agree that Reagan's quote applied to their profession? 

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Is it better to tie the hands of local transporters, or the troubled children they're trying to help?

We self-govern in three ways: with self-control in our personal lives, by intelligently electing representative officials from among ourselves, and by upholding constitutional principles in the American way of life.

Without basic self-control, there is no freedom.

Tuesday, March 17, 2026     12:00 PM

AGENDA

HB 4954 (Rep. Woolford)
Higher education: financial aid; eligible recipients of the police officer's and fire fighter's survivor tuition grant; expand to include medical examiners and medical examiner investigators.

HB 5514 (Rep. Cavitt)
Children: other; prohibition of use of certain restraints while transporting youths to certain qualified residential treatment programs; provide for.

HB 5715 (Rep. Schmaltz)
Military affairs: other; direct deposit for compensation of Michigan national guard members; provide for.

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE

Wouldn't that be something!

Toggle the "next bill" button to see the other bills in the series.

Wednesday, March 11, 2026     9:00 AM

AGENDA

HB 4902 (Rep. VanderWall)
Health occupations: counselors; limited license option for certain counselors; eliminate.

HB 4903 (Rep. Meerman)
Health occupations: counselors; relicensure requirements; modify.

HB 4904 (Rep. DeBoer)
Health occupations: counselors; professional disclosure statement requirements; eliminate.

HB 5074 (Rep. Thompson)
Health occupations: mental health care professionals; number of renewals of temporary or limited licenses; modify.

SB 398 (Sen. Bellino)
Health: substance use disorder treatment; substance use disorder services programs requirements; modify, and prohibit the promulgation of certain rules.

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE

No war like a budget war. Get out the popcorn!

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Health, Rep. Phil Green, Chair
Tuesday, March 3, 2026     9:00 AM

AGENDA

HFA Overview of current FY2025-26 budget and Governor's FY2026-27 Executive Recommendation

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE

It's an intriguing question, worthy of debate. (Although I'm not certain it ever arises in real life.)

Non-health bills italicized.

Thursday, February 26, 2026     9:00 AM

AGENDA

HB 5151 (Rep. Meerman)
Legislature: other; penalties for certain acts related to an article V convention for proposing amendment; provide for.

HCR 2 (Rep. Meerman)
A concurrent resolution prescribing the Rules of the Legislature for Selecting Commissioners to an Article V Convention.

HB 5340 (Rep. Paquette)
State agencies (existing): generally; acceptance of cash payments; require.

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE

The only good news in this whole line-up is in the final bill, a physician CE cut from 150 down to 75 hr/3 year renewal. However, there's a down side: that excellent provision is paired with a $250-500 fine for all professions who fail to produce CEs.

Licensing is unproven to ensure quality; conditioning licenses on continuing education, even less so.

Sometimes I think the health professions can't win for losing in Michigan.

Wednesday, February 4, 2026     9:00 AM

AGENDA

HB 4901 (Rep. Thompson)
Health: licensing; licensing of nurses and speech-language pathologists; modify.

HB 5102 (Rep. Kuhn)
Health occupations: dentists; dentistry task force; eliminate.

HB 5150 (Rep. Thompson)
Health occupations: respiratory therapists; licensure for respiratory therapists; modify.

HB 5249 (Rep. Prestin)
Health: emergency services; ambulance operation adaptive care license; create.

HB 5313 (Rep. Bierlein)
Health: licensing; setting aside certain disciplinary records; provide for, and modify certain continuing education requirements and sanctions.

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE

The single exception is SB 501, which has passed the Senate. Background here.

Information on bills in a series can be toggled from the first link.

Wednesday, January 21, 2026     9:00 AM

AGENDA

HB 4412 (Rep. Steele)
Mental health: hospitalization; person requiring treatment; revise, and modify certain procedures for treatment.

HB 4413 (Rep. Tisdel)
Mental health: other; hospital evaluations for assisted outpatient treatment; expand.

HB 4414 (Rep. Kuhn)
Criminal procedure: mental capacity; outpatient treatment for misdemeanor offenders with mental health issues; provide for.

HB 4899 (Rep. Thompson)
Health occupations: nurses; evaluation of foreign trained registered nurses; modify.

HB 4921 (Rep. Jenkins-Arno)
Health occupations: dentists; licensure of graduates from a dental education program located outside the United States; provide for.

HB 4934 (Rep. Frisbie)
Health occupations: psychologists; relicensure to serve as renewal; allow.

HB 5150 (Rep. Thompson)
Health occupations: respiratory therapists; licensure for respiratory therapists; modify.

HB 5455 (Rep. Linting)
Health occupations: physicians; interstate medical licensure compact; update.

SB 501 (Sen. Santana)
Health occupations: physical therapists; licensing process; modify to incorporate physical therapy licensing compact.

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE

Or if you like, you can say this post is in memory of my Dad. Thanks to his dream of a small family farm, I grew up drinking raw milk and hand-milking the cow. It was a healthy way of life, and a good start for a healthcare career.

Thursday, January 15, 2026     9:00 AM

AGENDA

HB 5217 (Rep. Maddock)
Food: milk; sale of raw milk products; allow.

HB 5218 (Rep. Maddock)
Food: milk; sale of raw milk and raw milk products under the manufacturing milk law of 2001; allow.

HB 5219 (Rep. Maddock)
Food: milk; sale of raw milk and raw milk products under the food law; allow.

OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE

The three bills are tie-barred: all must pass for the law to take effect.