Many passionate and engaged physician advocates from across Michigan joined the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) in Lansing this week for MSMS Advocacy Day. Participants met directly with lawmakers to share their frontline perspectives on patient care and priority health policy issues. The event coincided with several important legislative developments, including ongoing efforts to reduce burdensome CME requirements, proposals affecting insurance practices and prescription coverage, and new bipartisan Senate action aimed at addressing medical debt.
Advocacy Day
Physicians, medical students, and MSMS Alliance members from across Michigan gathered at the Capitol for MSMS Advocacy Day, representing the full spectrum of medicine—past, present, and future. Participants included professionals from emergency medicine, dermatology, anesthesiology, OB-GYN, family medicine, addiction medicine, allergy and immunology, and more, spanning both employed and private practice settings.
Throughout the day, attendees met with legislators and legislative staff to share their experiences related to regulatory and other challenges that interfere with the physician-patient care relationship, impact access to care, and threaten the viability of maintaining an independent practice. Their conversations focused on several key priorities for the medical profession and patient safety.
Participants highlighted MSMS’s opposition to scope-of-practice expansion bills (House Bills 4399, 5522, and Senate Bill 268) and emphasized the importance of maintaining physician-led health care teams to ensure high-quality, coordinated care for patients. They also urged lawmakers to support efforts to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on physicians, including House Bill 5313, which would streamline continuing medical education (CME) requirements. In addition, participants discussed the need for greater transparency and accountability from insurance companies, backing House Bill 5478 to establish guardrails around insurance company “clawbacks.”
MSMS Advocacy Day provided the forum for legislators and their staff to hear first-hand from a diverse group of attendees about how legislative decisions affect patient care and those providing it.
MSMS is grateful to everyone who came to Lansing, taking time away from patients and studies, to prioritize advocating for medicine-friendly policies in Michigan. We are so much stronger together!
Legislative Update
There was no movement this week on House Bills 4399 or 5522, and there are no immediate plans to advance either. Given that a bill status can change on a dime, MSMS continues to monitor both measures closely. Members who wish to share their opposition to these bills are encouraged to contact their legislators.
A vote is expected on MSMS-initiated HB 5313 in the House Committee on Rules as early as next week. Physicians are encouraged to continue reaching out to their legislators to ask for their support on this important legislation to modernize Michigan’s burdensome continuing medical education (CME) requirements.
Elsewhere, the House Appropriations Committee heard testimony on HB 4839, which would prohibit Medicaid coverage of brand-name drugs whenever a generic equivalent is available, except when a physician specifies “dispense as written” (DAW). MSMS is monitoring the bill closely to ensure physicians retain the ability to prescribe a specific medication when they determine it is in the best interest of patient care.
In the Senate, lawmakers unanimously approved SBs 701 and 702, bipartisan legislation aimed at alleviating medical debt burdens for patients. The bills now head to the House, where their path forward remains uncertain. MSMS has policy supporting efforts to address medical debt and will continue advocating for these patient protections as the legislation moves through the House.
For further information about advocacy events and other ways to get involved, reach out to Kate Dorsey at kdorsey@msms.org.