Both the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-led House had approved bills to renew the compact with overwhelming, bipartisan support. But legislation had stalled for months amid a strictly political dispute: Which lawmaker\u2019s name would be on the bill that passed?<\/p>\n
House Republicans say that will be state Rep. Rylee Linting of Wyandotte. Speaker Matt Hall had alleged Democrats did not want to pass her version of the bill<\/a> because they have a \u201cproblem\u201d with her.<\/p>\n Linting is up for re-election this fall in a competitive district.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have confidence that Gov. (Gretchen) Whitmer will sign that bill,\u201d Hall, R-Richland Township, said in a Thursday evening press conference, adding: \u201cThe 8,000 doctors whose licenses were at risk \u2014 everything is going to work out for them to continue to practice in Michigan.\u201d<\/p>\n Related:<\/p>\n Absent quick passage and a signature by Whitmer, medical licenses under the compact are poised to lapse on March 28, meaning those doctors couldn\u2019t legally practice medicine in a state already facing severe shortages of doctors and other health care providers.<\/p>\n That, in turn, would mean tens of thousands of doctors\u2019 appointments on March 29 \u201cdon\u2019t happen,\u201d Emily Hurst, a critical care medicine physician at Henry Ford Health and past president of the Michigan Osteopathic Association, previously told Bridge.<\/p>\n On Thursday, she and others said the announced legislative deal was welcome news, but they stopped short of celebrating.<\/p>\n The statements initially released Thursday were one-sided \u2014 by Republicans, noted Marschall Smith, executive director of the Denver-based Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission.<\/p>\n He called Hall\u2019s announcement \u201cvery encouraging,\u201d but added: \u201cThere are still a lot of moving parts. There\u2019s no ink on the paper yet.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the compact stopped taking requests for Michigan licenses at 6 p.m. Wednesday and is ready to notify 8,000 doctors that, as of March 29, they no longer have licenses to practice.<\/p>\n Under Linting\u2019s bill, Michigan will renew its participation in the compact \u2014 an agreement that allows doctors to practice medicine across state lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, confirmed the upper chamber will vote on the House bill on Tuesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe resolution we achieved today means that thousands of people will receive uninterrupted care and physicians will be able to continue to practice in Michigan,\u201d Brinks said in a statement sent to Bridge Michigan.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, Brinks added, the matter \u201ccould have been easily settled months ago\u201d with bipartisan legislation<\/a> the Senate approved in May 2025 \u2014 a bill<\/a> sponsored by Sen. Roger Hauck, R-Mount Pleasant \u2014 \u201cbut it became clear that the speaker was unwilling to take that path.\u201d<\/p>\n Michigan has been a member of the licensing compact since 2019.<\/p>\n Whether the House passed the Senate\u2019s bill, or the Senate passed the House\u2019s bill, was the major source of conflict when it came to renewing Michigan\u2019s participation in the compact.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, many doctors have begun the months-long process of obtaining their Michigan license the traditional way, which includes submitting fingerprints and collecting medical education and other records, Hurst, the doctor, told Bridge Thursday.<\/p>\n She and others warned that the potential disruption to health care could be seismic as thousands of doctors wait for those licenses to be approved without the compact in place.<\/p>\n A typical physician carries a \u201cpatient panel\u201d of 1,500 to 2,000 people, said Anne Scott, chief operating officer of the Michigan Primary Care Association<\/a>, which represents hundreds of community health center sites throughout the state.<\/p>\n A single doctor suddenly unable to practice sets off \u201ca huge ripple effect\u201d for patients as clinics try to reassign patients to other doctors.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not like your appointment gets bumped one or two weeks,\u201d she said. \u201cThe disruption of care potentially can extend much further out.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Thank you to our Michigan Health Watch Sponsors<\/p>\n Bridge Michigan Health Watch is made possible by generous financial support from our sponsors. Sponsorship supports our independent journalism mission but does not constitute sponsor endorsement of individual articles or editorial content. Bridge Michigan journalism remains fact- and data-driven and independent at all times.<\/p>\n Please visit the\u00a0About<\/a>\u00a0page for more information and to\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to Health Watch. Interested in becoming a sponsor?\u00a0Contact Emma Carr<\/a>.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
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