News & Media
Michigan's Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Passes with MSMS-Initiated Proposal
The Michigan House, Senate, and Governor came to a final agreement on a $76 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 2023) at the end of last week.
An MSMS-initiated proposal was included in the final version of the budget, which will provide an estimated $60 million to support a Medicaid reimbursement uplift for adult and pediatric primary care providers. Under the initiative, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will allocate $15 million of general fund/general purpose revenue and any associated federal matching dollars to provide Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care services at the greater of either the actual rates paid during the previous fiscal year, or at least 95% of the Medicare rate received for those services on the date the service was provided.
“It’s wonderful when our lawmakers recognize problems and then work together to implement solutions, and that’s exactly what happened today with the announcement that a Medicaid uplift would be funded in this year’s general fund budget," said Thomas Veverka, MD, FACS, MSMS President.
“On behalf of our member physicians across the state, I’d like to praise Governor Whitmer, Senate Leadership, and our state’s lawmakers for not only recognizing the problems Medicaid’s low reimbursement presents to Michigan’s patients and providers, but then working together to find and fund a solution. This now approved Medicaid uplift will expand access to care, supports primary care and physician practice sustainability, and most importantly, improve patient health, and all of that is worth celebrating," Doctor Veverka said. “Now more than ever, patients need timely access to primary care, and last week's announcement that Medicaid reimbursement rates will be receiving a much-needed increase will go a long way towards ensuring that Michigan’s patients can access the care they need when they need it from the physicians they trust.”
Lastly, MSMS is also pleased to see that current funding levels for Graduate Medical Education (GME) residency positions and MiDocs, which is a state-funded program set up to expand GME residency positions in select specialties to recruit and retain physicians in underserved areas in Michigan, were maintained in the FY 2023 budget.