Michigan First Healthcare System Act

A bill to establish a Michigan First Health System that prioritizes prevention, local control, and community-driven care; to expand member-owned health cooperatives; to reduce administrative waste and keep healthcare dollars circulating in Michigan; to shift payment toward outcomes rather than volume; to invest in nutrition, lifestyle, and early-intervention infrastructure; to create a dedicated Healthcare Fraud Task Force with enhanced penalties, eligibility verification, and foreign-influence restrictions; to recover stolen funds for taxpayers and patients; and to deliver lower costs, better health, and integrity for the people of Michigan.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Section 1. Short Title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Michigan First Healthcare Revitalization and Integrity Act.”

Section 2. Legislative Findings.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) National healthcare spending has reached extraordinary levels while delivering uneven outcomes and extracting substantial resources from Michigan families, employers, and taxpayers.

(b) A Michigan-centered hybrid model that emphasizes prevention, local decision-making, member-owned cooperatives, streamlined administration, and outcomes-based payment can recycle resources within the state, lower per-person costs, and improve health.

(c) Chronic disease driven by lifestyle and environmental factors accounts for a large share of costs; upstream investment in nutrition, physical activity, mental resilience, and early screening yields superior returns.

(d) Healthcare fraud—including false billing, kickbacks, enrollment of ineligible persons, and exploitation by foreign or domestic networks—diverts billions that should serve legitimate patients and must be met with zero tolerance.

(e) All reforms under this act shall operate within the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Michigan, and applicable federal law governing Medicare, Medicaid, and interstate commerce.

Section 3. Definitions.

As used in this act:

(a) “Michigan First Health System” means the coordinated set of policies, cooperatives, prevention programs, payment reforms, and integrity measures established by this act.

(b) “Health cooperative” means a member-owned, state-chartered entity organized to arrange or finance healthcare services for its members on a not-for-profit or limited-return basis, modeled on successful credit-union principles of local control and member benefit.

(c) “Task Force” means the Michigan Healthcare Fraud Task Force created in this act.

Section 4. Michigan First Health System – Core Architecture.

(1) The State shall develop and support a hybrid healthcare ecosystem that blends public accountability, private innovation, and expanded member-owned health cooperatives so that a greater share of healthcare dollars remains in Michigan and serves Michigan residents.

(2) Administrative overhead in state-influenced programs shall be capped and continuously reduced. Provider payment methodologies shall increasingly reward measured health outcomes and prevention rather than volume of procedures.

(3) The State shall pursue bulk negotiation and transparent purchasing for pharmaceuticals and selected services to the maximum extent permitted by federal law, with savings directed to lower premiums, expanded prevention, or taxpayer relief.

(4) Low-cost financing mechanisms, including public-backed or cooperative lending for medical expenses, shall be authorized to reduce the effective cost of care for families.

Section 5. Expansion of Community Health Cooperatives.

(1) The Department of Insurance and Financial Services, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, shall establish a streamlined chartering and regulatory framework for health cooperatives.

(2) Cooperatives may operate regionally, serving urban, rural, manufacturing, and agricultural populations with tailored networks, telehealth, and mobile clinics.

(3) State policy shall favor cooperative and locally controlled models that keep governance and surplus close to members rather than distant national intermediaries.

Section 6. Prevention-First Infrastructure.

(1) Substantial resources shall be redirected toward evidence-based prevention: nutrition education, physical-activity programs, mental-health resilience, environmental health leveraging Michigan’s water resources, workplace wellness, and early screening.

(2) Schools, workplaces, local governments, and community organizations shall be eligible for partnership grants that demonstrably reduce chronic-disease incidence.

(3) Integration of financial wellness tools offered by local credit unions and banks with physical-wellness programs is encouraged.

(4) Outcomes data shall guide continuous improvement; programs that fail to deliver measurable health gains shall be revised or terminated.

Section 7. Local Control, Transparency, and Innovation.

(1) Regional boards and cooperative governing bodies shall keep decision-making close to the populations served. Rural northern Michigan shall receive priority for telehealth and mobile capacity; urban centers shall emphasize integrated care hubs.

(2) Evidence-based approaches—including functional and lifestyle medicine, nutrition science, stress-resilience practices relevant to manufacturing and farming populations, and predictive analytics—may be incorporated when supported by rigorous outcomes data.

(3) Full transparency of cost, quality, and outcomes data for state-influenced programs shall be maintained on public dashboards.

Section 8. Michigan Healthcare Fraud Task Force.

(1) An independent Healthcare Fraud Task Force is established under the Attorney General, working with the Michigan State Police, state auditors, and federal partners. The Task Force shall possess subpoena authority and advanced data-analytics capability.

(2) Priority investigative targets include:

(a) Fraud rings involving false billing, ghost patients, unnecessary procedures, or kickbacks;

(b) Schemes involving foreign nationals, visa overstays, or foreign-owned providers billing for services not rendered;

(c) Enrollment of ineligible individuals in Medicaid or state-funded programs; and

(d) Corruption or self-dealing by public officials, staff, or connected parties.

(3) Non-citizens convicted of healthcare fraud shall be referred for immigration enforcement to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Section 9. Enhanced Penalties, Recovery, and Exclusion.

(1) Large-scale healthcare fraud involving public funds shall carry enhanced civil damages (including treble damages where authorized) and mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment consistent with the severity of the offense.

(2) Upon conviction, offenders shall be permanently excluded from participation in state healthcare programs and, where applicable, referred for federal exclusion.

(3) Assets derived from fraud shall be subject to forfeiture; recovered funds shall be applied first to restitution and taxpayer benefit (rebates, deficit reduction, or direct care).

Section 10. Prevention and Detection Systems.

(1) Real-time claims analytics using advanced data matching shall be mandated to flag suspicious patterns.

(2) Strict proof of identity and lawful presence shall be required for enrollment in Medicaid and other state-funded healthcare programs, with systematic cross-checks against federal verification systems.

(3) Enhanced provider screening shall include criminal-history, ownership-disclosure, and immigration-status review where relevant.

(4) Entities substantially owned or controlled by designated foreign adversaries are prohibited from state contracts or participation in state-funded healthcare programs.

Section 11. Transparency, Whistleblowers, and Official Accountability.

(1) A public fraud dashboard shall report investigations, arrests, convictions, and dollars recovered, with appropriate notation of cases involving foreign nationals or public officials.

(2) Whistleblower rewards of up to 30 percent of recovered funds shall be authorized and vigorously promoted.

(3) Elected officials and high-level health-department personnel shall disclose financial ties to healthcare providers, insurers, or pharmaceutical companies.

Section 12. Implementation Timeline and Metrics.

(1) Within 90 days the Task Force shall be operational and high-risk provider audits begun.

(2) Within the first year the cooperative framework, prevention investment priorities, verification systems, and initial major enforcement actions shall be in place.

(3) Annual public reports shall document cost trends, prevention outcomes, fraud recoveries, and progress toward keeping a larger share of healthcare resources circulating inside Michigan.

Section 13. Severability.

If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act and the application of its provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.

Section 14. Effective Date.

This act takes effect 90 days after enactment.

Enacting Section.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Health First. Integrity First. Michigan First.

Money and Care Recycled at Home.

No More Fraud. No More Exploitation.

Taxpayer Resources for Michigan Citizens.