STATEMENT: Health Can’t Wait Coalition

LANSING – The following is a public statement from Bobby Mukkamala, President of the Michigan State Medical Society, in response to the Michigan Senate Health and Human Services committee’s vote on April 22, 2021 to pass Senate Bill 247—legislation that reforms insurance company prior authorization practices—on to the full Senate.

“We applaud the Senate Health and Human Services committee for passing SB 247 today, moving Michigan one step closer to the kind of meaningful prior authorization reform our state’s patients and providers need. Health really can’t wait, and it’s encouraging to see this committee agree with that sentiment. If passed, SB 247 will go a long way towards reducing costly and dangerous delays in accessing health care. We hope the rest of the Senate recognizes the tremendous value in that and takes the necessary next steps with this important legislation.”

Health Can’t Wait is a coalition of patients, health care providers, and patient-support groups working together to put Michigan patients first by ending dangerous delays in patients’ access to health care caused by insurance company bureaucracy, including prior authorization red tape and step therapy requirements.