Legislative Updates
A bill package has been introduced in the
Michigan House that calls for amending the
Public Health Code to require that medical
assistants be licensed in the State of Michigan.
Benefits of Medical Assistant Licensure
Individuals are currently not required to possess a license to work as a medical assistant in Michigan. Furthermore, there is no definition of what a medical assistant is or what education/training is required. A bill package has been introduced in the Michigan House that calls for amending the Public Health Code to require that medical assistants be licensed in the State of Michigan. House Bills 5416 and 5417 were introduced in January 2024 by Representative Tullio Liberati and Representative Graham Filler, respectively. Specifically, the bills:
- Define the practice of medical assisting and terms related to working as a medical assistant
- Prohibit an individual from engaging in the practice of medical assisting unless licensed by the State of Michigan
- Restrict the use of the terms “medical assistant,” “clinical assistant,” and “state licensed medical assistant,” and the credentials “LMA” and “MA” to only individuals who are licensed as medical assistants in the State of Michigan
- Call for establishing the Michigan Board of Medical Assistants
- Establish medical assistant licensure requirements, which include post-secondary training and continuing education.HB 5416-5417 currently reside in the House Health Policy CommitteeMichigan Society of Medical Assistants (MSMA) supports HB 5416-5147 because patient safety is the primary goal of the bills.MSMA holds firm that establishing a licensure requirement will protect patients from being cared for by unqualified individuals. This is especially important as medical assistant jobs are projected to grow by 16% by 2031, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In addition to patient safety, medical assistant licensure, through passage of HB 5416-5417, will:
- Convey a medical assistant’s attainment of knowledge and skill necessary to provide appropriate, quality care to patients.
- Affirm that every medical assistant was trained at a school/program accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools or the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs; research shows that the accreditation process influences the quality of training and education and, thus, the quality of a medical assistant’s knowledge and skills
- Require that medical assistants complete ongoing continuing education to keep their credentials up-to-date and to maintain their jobs; not only will this protect patients, it will also help medical assistants expand their knowledge and build their skill set.
- Establish and verify a standard. Other professionals—from cosmetologists to barbers to security alarm contractors to physicians—must meet licensure requirements in Michigan. This should be no different for medical assistants.
- Increase respect for the profession, as licensure helps demonstrate clinical skill and knowledge of billing and coding procedures, office management, and medical law and ethics; these are duties for which other healthcare professionals rely on medical assistants. This will also help in recruiting and retaining individuals to the medical assistant profession.
- Not change the scope of work that medical assistants perform, posing no threat to other healthcare professions, such as nursing.