House committee hears bills to require timely electronic certification of death certificates

The House Health Policy Committee heard testimony on House Bills 4077 and 4078 that would require timely certification of death certificates by physicians through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) and clarify when county medical examiners must certify death certificates.

Supporters told the committee the bills are intended to reduce delays families face when they cannot obtain certified death certificates needed for burial, cremation, insurance and legal affairs.

Representative John Rogers and Representative Emily Mueller (both bill sponsors) said the bills are reintroductions of measures from last year. Rogers said the package would “modernize the medical certification of death certificates and address a significant frustration facing grieving families in Michigan.” Mueller explained his measure would change the look-back period used to decide whether an attending physician may certify a death, replacing the current 48-hour standard with a longer look-back (up to one year) to reduce ambiguity about when the county medical examiner must act.

Funeral directors and county clerks described routine delays. Jared Rozicky, director of government relations for the Michigan Funeral Directors Association, and Sarah Jensen Vatter, who owns Palmer Jensen Bush Funeral Homes in Lansing, said many physicians do not use EDRS and that funeral homes often receive hand-signed paper certificates that must be re‑entered into the electronic system. Vatter said those steps add work for funeral directors and county clerks and can delay families’ plans. “When families are forced to wait, it causes all sorts of issues,” Vatter said, describing religious and cultural practices — including Hindu and Jewish timing preferences — that can be affected by certification delays.

Committee members heard specific data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Vatter and witnesses reported that DHHS records show that, over the past five years, roughly 75 percent of death certificates were not medically certified within the 48 hours currently required by statute.

Carl W. Hawkins, M.D., immediate past president of the Michigan Association of Medical Examiners, said medical examiners are currently overloaded by requests to certify deaths that attending physicians could appropriately certify. “Medical examiners need to certify non-natural deaths and unexplained unexpected deaths,” Hawkins testified. He said attending physicians who have cared for patients prior to death often can accurately certify natural deaths, and shifting appropriate cases away from medical examiner offices would reduce burden.

Committee members asked about implementation and training. Witnesses said the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services provides or will provide training on EDRS, and the department is developing an updated EDRS platform that proponents expect to be available by July. Witnesses also described technical safeguards used by EDRS to authenticate electronic signatures and pre‑registration steps physicians complete to sign electronically.

No committee vote on the bills occurred during the hearing. The committee received two letters of support entered into the record: Charlie Murden of the Department of Health and Human Services and Kate Dorsey of the Michigan State Medical Society filed statements of support (each did not wish to speak).