Committee hears testimony on bills to create Michigan health data utility; funding would use insurance assessment

The Michigan House Health Policy Committee heard extended testimony on House Bill 4037 and House Bill 4038, a package to establish a statewide health data utility (HDU) to expand and standardize electronic health data sharing, and to fund it through the Insurance Provider Assessment Act (IPAA).

The bills, sponsored in the hearing by Representative Julie Rogers (state representative, House District 41) and presented in part by Chair VanderWaal (House Health Policy Committee), would formally establish an HDU to move beyond the current health information exchange model operated by the Michigan Health Information Network (MiHIN) and to add nontraditional data sources such as schools, foster care and community organizations to data sharing that supports treatment, care coordination, quality improvement and public-health uses.

Supporters told the committee the HDU would reduce duplicate testing, improve medication reconciliation and improve care coordination across settings. Representative Rogers recounted a family member’s experience of omitted medication information during a hospital transfer as an example of gaps the legislation aims to address. Dr. Kevin Bosack (physician, executive medical director for population health management and board member of MiHIN representing health systems) and MiHIN officials described current capabilities and the proposed expansion.

Why it matters: Sponsors and witnesses said an HDU would make more complete medical information available to treating clinicians when they need it, reduce unnecessary tests and administrative burden, and enable faster public-health data flows. Supporters argued the structure would be a statewide infrastructure investment tied to existing legal and technical standards rather than a new, standalone consumer database.

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