Healthcare

Senate Bill 33 amends Michigan's Estates and Protected Individuals Code concerning patient advocate designations. The bill allows individuals to include specific instructions within their patient advocate designation regarding desired life-sustaining treatment, even if they are pregnant. It removes the existing legal prohibition that prevents patient advocates from making decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment from a pregnant patient if such a decision would result in the patient's death. This change enables a patient advocate to follow a pregnant patient's pre-expressed wishes concerning end-of-life care.

SB 30, known as the "Biased and Unjust Care Reporting Act," requires the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to collect reports from individuals who are pregnant or in the postpartum period. These reports concern gynecological or perinatal care that does not meet standards for being culturally congruent, unbiased, just, or dignified. The DHHS will use a validated tool to identify instances of "obstetric violence" and "obstetric racism," as defined in the bill. The department will then provide a report containing de-identified data on the incidence and prevalence of these issues to the governor and relevant legislative committees, without identifying specific healthcare providers.

Senate Bill 34 amends Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to broaden the definition of "sex." For employment situations, it clarifies that "sex" includes pregnancy, lactating status, childbirth, termination of a pregnancy, or related medical conditions. For places of public accommodation and public service, the bill specifies that "sex" includes pregnancy or lactating status. This bill aims to expand civil rights protections for individuals based on these defined statuses.

SB 37 requires Michigan health insurers to cover gynecological and perinatal care services provided by in-network physicians, certified nurse midwives, or midwives at in-network facilities or at home. This applies to any health insurance policy that already includes coverage for these services. The bill defines key terms like "certified nurse midwife" and "midwife" to clarify which providers and settings qualify for the required coverage. The policy change ensures patients using in-network providers for these services have access without gaps in coverage.

SB 31 amends Michigan's Public Health Code to require hospitals to adopt written policies covering specific patient rights during childbirth. It directly affects all Michigan hospitals licensed under the Public Health Code and their patients receiving care while pregnant and in labor. The key new provision mandates that hospitals must stabilize a pregnant patient's condition before terminating care if the patient refuses treatment, ensuring they cannot be discharged without medical stabilization. This adds to existing requirements for hospitals to clearly outline patient rights like privacy, access to medical records, and the right to refuse treatment in their written policies.