Updates About Health Insurance

A federal judge has signed an order that preserves full coverage for preventive services in health insurance plans. This includes vital screenings for certain cancers and access to HIV prevention drugs.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling partially halts a previous ruling made by U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Conner. While the nationwide impact is not immediate, it protects approximately 150 million individuals who rely on preventive care during the ongoing legal proceedings.

The ruling made by O’Conner in March jeopardized free screenings for conditions like depression, diabetes, and heart health, potentially burdening families with increased costs and endangering the health of millions. The agreement recognizes the limitations in shielding parties from penalties if the ruling is overturned, and the government has agreed not to enforce penalties for non-compliance with preventive care recommendations.

The House Health Policy Committee heard testimony on bills that would amend Michigan’s Healthy Michigan program, allowing for more flexibility in the program by removing outdated statutory language that has not resulted in cost savings for the state.

Specifically, the bills would eliminate cost-sharing and healthy behavior requirements for beneficiaries which will allow for Medicaid health plans to be more innovative in creating incentives for beneficiaries to engage in healthy behaviors.

The bills are expected to be voted on in the coming weeks by the House Health Policy Committee.

On May 11, 2023, the first testimony-only hearing was held on HB 4071, a bill that would prohibit health insurers from applying financial requirements that are more restrictive on oral chemotherapies than they do for IV chemotherapies. Stakeholders including the Michigan Society of Hematology and Oncology, the American Cancer Society, the Michigan State Medical Society, and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society supported the legislation’s passage and urged the committee to take swift action.

The bill sponsor, Representative Samantha Steckloff [D- Farmington Hills] gave the most powerful testimony, as hers was personal. Representative Steckloff is a breast cancer survivor and champion of oral chemotherapy parity as she herself must take an oral chemotherapy drug. A week after the first testimony-only hearing, House bill 4071 was voted out of the House Health Policy Committee by a vote of 14-3, and now awaits action on the House floor.