SB 31 — Health facilities: hospitals; certain policies on patients who are giving birth; require a hospital to adopt. Amends secs. 20201 & 21513 of 1978 PA 368 (MCL 333.20201 & 333.21513) & adds sec. 21537.

SB-31, As Passed Senate, April 17, 2025 SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO.

Except for a licensed health maintenance organization that is subject to chapter 35 of the insurance code of 1956, 1956 PA 218, MCL 500.3501 to 500.3573, the health facility or EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 agency shall post the policy at a public place in the health facility or agency and shall provide the policy to each member of the health facility or agency staff.

(c) A patient or resident is entitled to confidential treatment of personal and medical records, and may refuse their release to a person outside the health facility or agency except as required because of a transfer to another health care facility, as required by law or third party payment contract, or as permitted or required under the health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996, Public Law 104-191, or regulations promulgated under EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 that act, 45 CFR parts 160 and 164.

(g) A patient or resident is entitled to exercise his or her rights as a patient or resident and as a citizen, and to this end may present grievances or recommend changes in policies and services on behalf of himself or herself the patient or resident or EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 others to the health facility or agency staff, to governmental officials, or to another person of his or her the patient's or resident's choice within or outside the health facility or agency, free from restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination, or reprisal.

(k) A patient or resident is entitled to associate and have private communications and consultations with his or her the patient's or resident's physician or a physician's assistant with whom the physician has a practice agreement, with his or her the patient's or resident's advanced practice registered nurse, with EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 his or her the patient's or resident's attorney, or with any other individual of his or her the patient's or resident's choice and to send and receive personal mail unopened on the same day it is received at the health facility or agency, unless medically contraindicated as documented in the medical record by the attending physician, a physician's assistant with whom the physician has a practice agreement, or an advanced practice registered nurse.

(l) A patient or resident is entitled to be free from mental and physical abuse and from physical and chemical restraints, except those restraints authorized in writing by the attending physician, by a physician's assistant with whom the physician has a practice agreement, or by an advanced practice registered nurse, for a specified and limited time or as are necessitated by an emergency to protect the patient or resident from injury to self or others, in which case the restraint may only be applied by a qualified professional who shall set forth in writing the circumstances requiring the use of restraints and who shall promptly report the action to the attending physician, physician's EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse who authorized the restraint.

A patient may be visited by the patient's attorney or by representatives of the departments named EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 in section 20156, during other than established visiting hours.

The attending EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 physician, a physician's assistant with whom the physician has a practice agreement, or an advanced practice registered nurse, shall fully inform the nursing home patient of the patient's medical condition unless medically contraindicated as documented in the medical record by a physician, a physician's assistant with whom the physician has a practice agreement, or an advanced practice registered nurse.

(g) A nursing home patient or home for the aged resident is entitled to manage his or her the patient's or resident's own EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 financial affairs, or to have at least a quarterly accounting of personal financial transactions undertaken in his or her the patient's or resident's behalf by the facility during a period of time the patient or resident has delegated those responsibilities to the facility.

(j) A nursing home patient has the right to have his or her the patient's parents, if a minor, or his or her the patient's or resident's spouse, next of kin, or patient's representative, if an adult, stay at the facility 24 hours a day if the patient is considered terminally ill by the physician responsible for the patient's care, a physician's assistant with whom the physician has EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 a practice agreement, or an advanced practice registered nurse.

EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 (8) As used in this section:

The EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 review must include the quality and necessity of the care provided and the preventability of complications and deaths occurring in the hospital.

(1) Beginning January 1, 2026,2027, a hospital shall have a policy that complies with all of the following:

(i) If the patient has a partner or a spouse, both of the EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 following:

EMR S01082'25 (S-1)(S-2)_SB31_APS_1 dae81pfezi43 1 (iii) An infection control risk.

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