LANSING, MI (AP)-- A former Michigan lawmaker is spearheading a petition drive to limit how much hospitals can charge uninsured and underinsured patients and those injured in car accidents.
Republican Rocky Raczkowski will ask the state elections board Monday to approve the form of his "Stop Overcharging" petition. If he collects 285,000 signatures, the initiated bill goes to the Legislature.
It lawmakers reject it, the legislation would get a statewide vote.
Raczkowski says his proposal would prohibit hospitals from charging patients more than 150 percent of the lowest amount they accept as payment in full from any payer. He calls the current charging scheme "discriminatory" and says prices are "out of control."
Efforts to stop hospitals from charging auto insurers more for care than they bill health insurers have stalled in the Legislature.