Some real doozies this week. Commentary below.
Thursday, October 5, 2023
TIME: 10:30 AM
PLACE: Room 519, House Office Building, Lansing, MI
AGENDA:SB 384 (Sen. Hertel) Insurance; insurers; denying or limiting insurance to living organ donors; prohibit.
HB 4101 (Rep. VanderWall) Health occupations; speech-language pathologists; temporary licensing of speech-language pathologists; modify.
HB 4213 (Rep. Morse) Mental health; code; definition of distant site for a telemedicine visit; provide for.
HB 4579 (Rep. Price) Insurance; health insurers; reimbursement rate for telehealth visits; require to be the same as reimbursements for office visits.
HB 4580 (Rep. Brabec) Human services; medical services; reimbursement rate for telehealth visits; require to be the same as reimbursements for office visits.
HB 4131 (Rep. Liberati) Insurance; health insurers; coverage for health care services provided through telemedicine; modify.
HB 4504 (Rep. Fitzgerald) Health occupations; physical therapists; physical therapy licensure compact; enact.
HB 4505 (Rep. Zorn) Health occupations; physical therapists; licensing process; modify to incorporate physical therapy licensing compact.
HB 4169 (Rep. Rogers) Health occupations; occupational therapists; occupational therapy licensure compact; enact.
HB 4170 (Rep. Wozniak) Health occupations; occupational therapists; licensure process for occupational therapists; modify to incorporate occupational therapy licensure compact.OR ANY BUSINESS PROPERLY BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE
To view text of legislation go to: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/mileg.aspx?page=CommitteeBillRecord
Committee Clerk: Melissa Sweet
Phone: (517) 373-5176
e-Mail: msweet@house.mi.gov
Background on select bills in the order listed:
Speech language pathologists (SLP) help kids with speech impediments, adults with speech/swallow problems after stroke, and much more. There's a shortage of SLPs, bad enough that the ones in training can't get enough hours of supervision to go independent. This bill attempts to fix the problem by extending temporary licenses, multiple times if necessary. I've written before about the false promises of licensing. This is yet another example of a profession that should never have been licensed at all.
Telehealth: Can anyone give one sound, care-based reason Michigan law should control this, instead of leaving it to the market?? Where is the evidence that patients and clinicians are incompetent to find the best telehealth service for their needs and budget, the best way to use it, and whether insurance should cover it??
License Compacts: I testified and wrote about these bureaucratic, globalizing, and unconstitutional schemes when Michigan proposed one for nurses.
The PT and OT Compact bills passed committee with an H1 substitute on Oct 12. Language changes will not be available until the House floor vote occurs and is recorded.
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