July 02, 2010
July 2, 2010
Executive Directive 2010-1 creates opportunities for state-local health care partnerships
LANSING - The Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) today announced that the Michigan Health Partnership is now available, offering local governments, school districts, community colleges and other public entities the opportunity to access the State of Michigan group health insurance plans. Public entities can now utilize state contracts for health care, prescription drugs, vision, dental, and mental health.
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm proposed the partnership in Executive Directive 2010-1 to pave the way for opportunities to achieve efficiencies in health care benefits for public entities. The directive is part of an aggressive reform agenda outlined by the governor to further her efforts at transforming Michigan's government to make it more efficient, effective and cost less. The directive charged the DTMB and the Office of the State Employer (OSE) with the tasks of reducing barriers that might prohibit these partnerships, as well as ensuring that health care benefit plans offered to public employees utilize best practices.
"We worked in cooperation with the OSE and others on our project team to reduce barriers to offer the benefits of the state's health care contracts to all public entities," said Ken Theis, director of the DTMB. "The Michigan Health Partnership allows other public entities to voluntarily purchase from State of Michigan contracts, utilizing the state's vendor negotiation and competitive bid process and providing access to established health care contracts."
Public entities can learn more about the Michigan Health Partnership and how to join by visiting the Web site at www.michigan.gov/mihealthpartners. The DTMB reviewed current contracts and vendor agreements to ensure that best practices are being followed in health care delivery, patient safety is maintained, health information technology is used effectively, and unnecessary treatment is prevented. The DTMB continues working with current vendors so that contracts can be opened to allow for local participation.
"This effort provides the opportunity for cooperative purchasing," said Sharon Bommarito, director of the OSE. "While we know that local governments and other public entities have current health care contracts in place, we now can work to develop future partnerships."
The DTMB now will begin working with locals to offer more information about the state's contracts so that opportunities for creating health partnerships can be identified. The DTMB will also be working to support local entities in other ways, including discussions on best practices in contracting.
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