(LANSING) - A series of bipartisan bills to reduce overall costs and lower financial burdens caused by medical debt for Michigan residents passed the Senate on Wednesday.
The bipartisan bills were sponsored by State Senators Jonathan Lindsey and Sarah Anthony.
Lindsey, a Republican from Coldwater, says health care is currently an overpriced, underperforming disaster and Michigan families have been feeling it for years. He says there is a strong desire from his constituents, and from people around the state, to pursue policy changes to enhance health care outcomes and reduce out-of-control medical costs.
The Senate granted final approval to Senate Bills 449, 450, 451, 701 and 702, which significantly rein in debt collection practices like personal liens, wage garnishment and home foreclosures, while also capping interest rates applied to medical debt.
The bills would also require all Michigan hospitals to create financial assistance programs to improve options for families facing a medical emergency, which is already a federal requirement for nonprofit hospitals.
Lindsey says there is still significant work to do, noting that he has been working to get additional legislation he sponsored to improve medical procedure price transparency passed as well. Senate Bill 95, which received unanimous support in the House and is currently tied up in the Senate, would require hospitals to publicly disclose the costs of treatments and operations and prohibit the collection of debts if a hospital is not in compliance with price transparency laws.