Oct. 25-Hurley Medical Center Invites Employees and the Public to Oppose House Bill 4936

Hurley Medical Center leadership is voicing our strong opposition to House Bill 4936 currently pending before the Michigan House of Representatives. As the region’s only Level I Trauma Center, Hurley Medical Center is a vital lifeline for patients who live in Genesee County and 39 nearby counties for specialized 24/7 clinical care. “If the Michigan Legislature passes this Bill, Hurley would lose approximately $14 million annually, which would have a severe effect on Hurley’s ability to provide trauma care. It would also jeopardize our status as a Level I Trauma Center,” said Patrick Wardell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hurley Medical Center.

This proposed legislation will implement a government mandated fixed-price Fee Schedule used in the Workers' Compensation system which would be applied to payments made by auto insurers to physicians, hospitals, and other providers treating an injured person or providing rehabilitation. The state’s Worker’s Compensation Fee Schedule was not intended for catastrophic auto accident cases and would arbitrarily reduce payments to providers without regard to actual costs incurred or the intensity of the services necessary to care for and rehabilitate seriously injured patients.  This proposed new law also provides grossly inadequate personal injury insurance benefits that would be far exceeded by reasonable and necessary medical expenses in most of your serious auto accident injury cases.

This proposed legislation would substantially limit, and in some cases completely eliminate, the automobile no-fault benefits that have provided hospitals and post-trauma care providers the necessary resources needed to treat millions of automobile accident victims who have suffered serious or catastrophic injuries. The current no-fault law system enables hospitals to provide the highest quality of care to injured victims and allows these patients to make the most complete recovery possible without bankrupting their families or turning to state welfare programs.

The Bill also contains a provision that deprives voters of their right to challenge the law if it passes by referendum as the public was successfully able to do twice before, by popular vote. We are urging the community to ask their state legislators to oppose this legislation by voting “NO” for House Bill 4936.

Please contact members of our local Genesee County delegation (both House and Senate) by telephone or email to ask them to use their influence among all their colleagues in the Michigan Legislature to ensure that House Bill 4936 does not pass.
Below are the telephone numbers and email addresses of members of our local Genesee County delegation.

Jim Ananich (800) FLINT-49                              jimananich@house.mi.gov

Richard Hammel (888) 347-8048                    richardhammel@house.mi.gov

Paul Scott (866) 989-5151                                 paulscott@house.mi.gov

Charles Smiley (855) CSMILEY                        charlessmiley@house.mi.gov

Woodrow Stanley (888) WOOD034                  woodrowstanley@house.mi.gov

John Gleason (866) 268-2914                          senjgleason@senate.michigan.gov

David Robertson (517) 373-1636                     sendrobertson@senate.michigan.gov

Sincerely,

Patrick Wardell, President and Chief Executive Officer – Hurley Medical Center

To see a live interview of Patrick Wardell on ABC12, click here.