Michigan’s certification-of-need regulations for health care projects could undergo significant changes under legislation proposed in Lansing.

When Dr. Lynda Hulst went to work at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital 18 months ago, patients typically waited a month to get into its chronic pain management program.

Believing the pendulum has swung too far and often results in delays for patient care, physicians want state legislators to curtail the ability of health insurers to require prior authorization to cover a medical test, procedure or medication.

Legislation coming up for consideration in Lansing aims to alleviate so-called “surprise billing” in health care.

As the state begins to implement new laws allowing adult recreational marijuana use, the Michigan State Medical Society wants a voice in the process.

GRAND RAPIDS — As more employers shift to high-deductible health plans, hospitals and doctors have wrestled with collecting the portion of the bill from patients who have not yet met their deductibles. 

Reforming Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance system remains a high priority in Lansing after a proposal during the 2018 lame-duck legislative failed to gain the support needed to pass. State House leaders this month, soon after convening the new legislative session, formed a special committee to look at no-fault reform, and the first bill introduced in the Senate offers a basic outline for reforms.

Health care goes into 2019 facing many of the same issues and trends that have been driving industry change in recent years: the movement to value-based contracting, more use of telemedicine, growing concerns about cybersecurity, and greater price and cost transparency for consumers.

GRAND RAPIDS — The psychiatric urgent care center that Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services plans to open next spring represents the first step toward broadening access to behavioral health care across West Michigan.

Michigan would join nearly twodozen other states and begin regulating the emerging field of genetic counseling under a bill moving through the Legislature.