Legislation improves end-of-life affairs processes for bereaved families
State Rep. Julie M. Rogers (D-Kalamazoo) delivers a speech on the House floor at the Capitol building in Lansing on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
LANSING, Mich., April 23, 2025 — The Michigan House of Representatives passed House Bills 4077 and 4078 yesterday, which make improvements to how deaths are reported, investigated and certified. These bills require death reports to be made through a secure web-based system established by the Michigan Department of Human Health and Services and removes conditions under which a death must be certified by, or referred to, a county medical examiner. If a physician signature is required, it must be completed within 48 hours and uploaded into the secure web-based system.
“Death certificates are vital documents that provide families with both closure and the ability to manage important end of life matters,” said state Rep. Julie M. Rogers (D-Kalamazoo). “As a practicing health care provider, I am pleased with our efforts to eliminate unnecessary delays and ease the administrative burdens faced by those grieving the loss of a loved one.”
“When families tragically lose a loved one, the last thing they should have to worry about is a delayed funeral,” said state Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Linden). “These bills will provide much needed clarity and greatly speed up the process to make things easier for grieving families.”
The intent behind the bills is to modernize the medical certification of death certificates and to address a significant frustration facing grieving families in Michigan, which is how long it can take to obtain medical certification on death certificates. Funerals, burials, cremation, accessing insurance funds, and finalizing legal estates all require death certificates and families have faced significant delays in Michigan. This package seeks to reduce these delays and help families with closure.
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