Health

Today, Gov. Rick Snyder signed an order creating an Autism Council in Michigan's Department of Community Health.

The governor's office said the order is a step to implement Michigan's Autism Spectrum Disorders State Plan. According to a 2009 issue paper concerning the plan, autism diagnoses have dramatically increased amongst children over the past several decades.

The AP reports:

The council will have 12 gubernatorial appointees.

Snyder and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley pushed hard to win passage of a mandate for insurance coverage for autism treatment for children. Insurers are reimbursed through a $15 million autism coverage incentive fund.

Calley's daughter Reagan has been diagnosed with autism.

Michigan's upcoming budget also provides for Medicaid coverage of autism treatment for children through the age of 18.

-Elaine Ezekiel, Michigan Radio Newsroom

Hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents already have benefited from the health care law passed in 2009, according to the federal government. Some examples:

•  More than 23,000 Michigan seniors and people with disabilities have saved $17.6 million this calendar year on prescription drugs because of the law, an average of $757 per person. The money goes to help residents with medical costs after they hit the Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage gap, the so-called "doughnut hole."
• More than a half-million Michigan seniors have received a free preventive health care service so far this year.
• Around 1.8 million residents now receive preventative services with no co-pay.
• Around 57,000 more young adults in Michigan under the age of 26 are on their parents' health insurance plans.
• Around 7,000 small businesses get federal tax credits for offering health insurance to their employees.
• Six Michigan health centers have been awarded $3.7 million from the federal government to help expand access to care for 59,431 additional patients.
• Around 114,000 Michigan residents will get $13.9 million in rebates from insurance companies this summer because of a rule that requires insurance companies give rebates if they don't spend at least 80 percent of consumers' premiums on medical care and quality improvement. The rebates will average $214 for 65,000 Michigan families.
  

Critics of the Affordable Care Act are winning the media battle.  That's according to research by the Pew Trust.

The study says opponents of the health care overhaul had effective messages about what they call "big government." It says those messages were more effective than supporters' warnings about what they call "greedy insurance companies."  The study also mentions that most of the news coverage focused on politics rather than explaining what the law actually does.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in Detroit this morning to announce an expansion of community health centers in over 40 states, along with Washington DC and Puerto Rico.

From the Associated Press:

Sebelius announced $128.6 million in awards Wednesday at Covenant Community Care in Detroit.

The grants are from the Affordable Care Act and will go to 219 health centers, increasing access to more than 1.25 million additional patients.

About 5,640 doctor, nurse, dental provider and support staff jobs are expected to be created.

Last month, the department announced $21 million in grants for expansion projects at five community health centers in Kansas and nearly $3.5 million for two centers in Utah.

Sebelius says the health care law is making "community health centers stronger and ensuring more Americans get the care they need."

-John Klein Wilson, Michigan Radio Newsroom

It will soon be easier for Michigan hospitals and doctors to check to see if their patients have “advance medical directives."  

A new federal study says universal motorcycle helmet laws increase helmet use and can lead to cost savings.

Motorcyclists that died in crashes between 2008 and 2010 in states with partial helmet laws were 5-times less likely to be wearing a helmet compared to riders in states with universal helmet laws. 

Rebecca Naumann is an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control, and is the lead author of the study.  She says the old helmet law in Michigan was a cost-saver.