State Rep. Dave Prestin today celebrated the signing of two bills into law that deliver major reforms to Michigan’s healthcare landscape. HB 5249, which creates an EMS Adaptive Care License, is designed to give small rural ambulance services the additional tools and flexibility they need to save lives. Michigan law requires ambulance services to provide their highest level of care on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis. As a result, small ambulance services were previously barred from offering higher levels of care, even if individual crew members were trained and capable of providing more advanced treatment. 

“I introduced this legislation because as a paramedic, Michigan law got in the way of my ability to provide lifesaving care to my patients,” said Prestin. “This Adaptive Care License will allow rural EMS agencies to provide a higher level of care when they have the proper staff and equipment on board their ambulances. With this bill signed into law, paramedics serving our Upper Peninsula communities will no longer be forced to choose between saving their patients or breaking the law.” 

Also signed into law this week was Prestin’s HB 4309, which enters Michigan into the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact. The measure will help expand access to healthcare by allowing licensed physician assistants to practice across state lines. 

“Breaking down barriers to healthcare is one of my top priorities, and this new law is an important step toward making sure people can get access to the emergency and primary care they need,” said Prestin, R-Cedar River. “Allowing physician assistants to practice across state lines will make it easier for qualified health professionals to cross the Wisconsin border and provide care to patients in the Upper Peninsula who continually struggle with Michigan’s barriers to entry on the provider level.” 

Prestin explained that taken together, these measures represent a significant victory for healthcare access in the Upper Peninsula. The bills address workforce mobility and operational flexibility that ensures patients receive timely and high-quality care.   

“These bills are simple reforms that eliminate unnecessary barriers for healthcare providers,” said Prestin. “Since day one, I have been fighting to provide patients with better access to higher quality healthcare. I am committed to breaking down every barrier between patients and their healthcare professionals. No patient should have to go without care because Michigan law got in the way.”