Michigan Governor Rick Snyder delivered his special message on health and wellness this week, calling for a mix of voluntary efforts and reforms requiring legislation. While opinion was generally cautiously optimistic regarding the vast majority of the Governor’s points, the highly anticipated, yet expected, call for mandatory insurance coverage of autism treatment was met with mixed reaction.
Immediately criticized by portions of the business community, Governor Snyder stated that medical treatments for autism have met critical metrics in making material differences in patients, necessitating the move to become the 29th state mandated coverage. The Lt. Governor, whose widely publicized advocacy for coverage of autism treatment came up short during the last legislative session, has reportedly had positive results from informal whip counts in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Other portions of the Governor’s message included an authorization for the Department of Natural Resources to ban smoking on public beaches, a comprehensive review of the statute governing Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as well as similar reviews of the Public Health Code and Food Code, and the development of the state’s health care exchange through a not-for-profit entity.
The Governor took his message on healthier lifestyles personally – weighing in at 192 pounds and announcing his intention on losing ten by the end of the year.