Updates About Public Health

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Wednesday, June 22, that Michigan will receive approximately $14.45 million following a lawsuit by Mallinckrodt ARC, LLC, formerly known as Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The settlement stems from allegations made that between January 2013 and June 2020, Mallinckrodt knowingly underpaid Medicaid rebates for its drug Acthar, violating the Federal False Claims Act and the Michigan Medicaid False Claims Act.

Mallinckrodt will pay Michigan, 49 other states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the federal government a total of $233.7 million, plus interest, over the next seven years. Michigan is expected to receive the first payment of $180,000 by mid-July.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced changes to the mobile vaccination program as it relates to COVID-19.

Over the next few weeks, MDHHS will be making changes to their COVID-19 vaccination efforts in response to reduced vaccinations that have been provided through these mobile sites. The department will instead redirect resources to pharmacy-based vaccination sites, medical providers, health systems, local health departments, and community health clinics.

Community vaccination sites through the mobile clinics have already shifted to supporting long-term care facilities, homebound services, and other at-risk congregate settings through the month of June. At the start of July, all MDHHS mobile vaccination clinics will no longer be used.

To find a vaccine provider, residents can access that information here

On May 2, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that Michigan’s Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies initiative, in part to expand Medicaid postpartum coverage to a full 12 months, was approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Under current federal requirements, Medicaid enrollees receive coverage for 60 days postpartum. Expanding coverage to a full year is intended to allow pregnant people, and their newborns, to have access to necessary health services, such as behavioral, dental, and substance use services. The extension also promotes the completion of postpartum depression screening.

In 2018, Michigan’s Maternal Mortality Surveillance (MMMS) Committee found that almost 50% of maternal deaths in the state were preventable and there was a persistent racial disparity among these deaths.

In Michigan, this expansion is expected to benefit approximately 35,000 pregnant and postpartum people annually.