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SB-974, As Passed Senate, June 18, 2026
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SENATE BILL NO. 974
A bill to amend 1956 PA 218, entitled
"The insurance code of 1956,"
by amending sections 1261, 1262, 1262a, and 1264 (MCL 500.1261,
500.1262, 500.1262a, and 500.1264), as added by 2014 PA 566.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1261. As used in this chapter: 1
(a) "Affordable care act" means the patient protection and 2
affordable care act, Public Law 111-148, as amended by the health 3
care and education reconciliation act of 2010, Public Law 111-152. 4
May 14, 2026, Introduced by Senators SANTANA, HERTEL, GEISS, WOJNO, KLINEFELT,
POLEHANKI, CAMILLERI, SHINK and CAVANAGH and referred to Committee on Health
Policy.
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(b) "Business entity" means a corporation, association, 1
partnership, limited liability company, limited liability 2
partnership, or other legal entity. 3
(c) "Certificate" means a document issued by the director 4
authorizing a person to act as a navigator or certified application 5
counselor for the qualifications specified in the document. The 6
certificate itself does not create any actual, apparent, or 7
inherent authority in the certificate holder to represent or commit 8
an insurer. 9
(d) "Certificate holder" means a person issued a certificate 10
under this chapter. 11
(e) "Certified application counselor" means an individual who 12
is certified as a certified application counselor under this 13
chapter and is authorized by the United States department of health 14
and human services Department of Health and Human Services to 15
perform the duties described in 45 CFR 155.225. 16
(f) "Certified navigator" means a person that is certified as 17
a navigator under this chapter. 18
(g) "Exchange" means an American health benefits exchange 19
established or operating under the affordable care act.marketplace 20
as that term is defined in section 103 of the Michigan health 21
insurance exchange act. 22
(h) "Insurance" means any of the kinds of insurance described 23
in chapter 6. 24
(i) "Insurance producer" means a person required to be 25
licensed under the laws of this state to sell, solicit, or 26
negotiate insurance. 27
(j) "Navigator" means a person that receives any funding from 28
an exchange or the federal government and is designated or selected 29
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by an exchange or the federal government to perform any of the 1
duties described in 42 USC 18031(i)(3). 2
(k) "Negotiate" means the act of conferring directly with or 3
offering advice directly to a purchaser or prospective purchaser of 4
a particular contract of insurance concerning any of the 5
substantive benefits, terms, or conditions of the contract, 6
provided that if the person engaged in that act either sells 7
insurance or obtains insurance from insurers for purchasers. 8
(l) "Qualified health plan" means that term as defined in 9
section 1301 of the affordable care act.42 USC 18021. 10
(m) "Sell" means to exchange a contract of insurance by any 11
means, for money or its equivalent, on behalf of an insurance 12
company. 13
(n) "Solicit" means attempting to sell insurance or asking or 14
urging a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance from a 15
particular company. 16
Sec. 1262. (1) Beginning June 30, 2015, an individual shall 17
not act as a navigator unless he or she has filed an application 18
under section 1263(1) and is certified with this state as a 19
navigator. 20
(2) Unless certified as a navigator, an individual shall not 21
receive funding from an exchange. 22
(3) Subject to the affordable care act, a certified navigator 23
shall do all of the following: 24
(a) Conduct public education activities to raise awareness of 25
the availability of qualified health plans. 26
(b) Distribute fair and impartial information concerning 27
enrollment in all qualified health plans offered within the 28
exchange and the availability of the premium tax credits under 29
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section 36B of the internal revenue code of 1986, 26 USC 36B, and 1
cost-sharing reduction under section 1402 of the affordable care 2
act. 3
(c) Facilitate selection of a qualified health plan. 4
(d) Provide referrals to appropriate state agencies for an 5
enrollee with a grievance, complaint, or question regarding the 6
enrollee's health plan , or coverage , or a determination under 7
such the plan coverage. 8
(e) Provide information in a manner that is culturally and 9
linguistically appropriate to the needs of the population served by 10
the exchange. 11
(4) A certified navigator shall not do any of the following: 12
(a) Sell, solicit, or negotiate health insurance. 13
(b) Recommend a particular health benefit plan.insurance 14
policy. 15
(c) Provide any information or services related to insurance 16
regulated under this act other than health benefit plans insurance 17
policies or other products offered in the exchange. 18
(5) If an exchange is operational in this state, the director 19
shall determine whether a program to certify and train navigators 20
protects the privacy and security of personally identifiable 21
information of the residents of this state under the laws of this 22
state. If the director determines that the program does not protect 23
the residents of this state under this subsection, the director 24
shall do all of the following: 25
(a) Establish a certification and training program that must 26
include, but is not limited to, all of the following: 27
(i) A criminal history check using the department of state 28
police's internet criminal history access tool (ICHAT). 29
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(ii) Training on privacy and security of personal identifying 1
information, training on ethics, training on provisions of the 2
affordable care act relating to navigators and certified 3
application counselors, and any necessary state-specific training 4
as determined by the director. 5
(b) Develop an application and disclosure form by which an 6
applicant for a certificate shall disclose any potential conflicts 7
of interest, as well as any other information required by the 8
director. 9
(c) Submit an annual report to the standing committees of the 10
senate and house of representatives with jurisdiction over health 11
policy. The report must include all of the following: 12
(i) The director's assessment of any federal program to certify 13
and train navigators and certified application counselors. 14
(ii) Any changes implemented by the department as a result of a 15
federal program to train navigators and certified application 16
counselors. 17
Sec. 1262a. (1) An individual shall not act as a certified 18
application counselor unless he or she has filed an application 19
under section 1263(2) and is certified with this state as a 20
certified application counselor. 21
(2) Unless certified as a certified application counselor, an 22
individual shall not receive funding from an exchange. 23
(3) Subject to the affordable care act, a certified 24
application counselor may do all of the following: 25
(a) Conduct public education activities to raise awareness of 26
the availability of qualified health plans. 27
(b) Distribute fair and impartial information about all 28
qualified health plans offered within the exchange and the 29
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availability of the premium tax credits under section 36B of the 1
internal revenue code of 1986, 26 USC 36B, and cost-sharing 2
reduction under section 1402 of the affordable care act. 3
(c) Assist individuals applying for coverage in a qualified 4
health plan. 5
(d) Facilitate selection of eligible individuals in a 6
qualified health plan. 7
(e) Provide information in a manner that is culturally and 8
linguistically appropriate to the needs of the population served by 9
the exchange. 10
(f) Refer an individual with limited English proficiency to a 11
navigator, insurance producer, or other source of assistance. 12
(4) A certified application counselor shall not do any of the 13
following: 14
(a) Sell, solicit, or negotiate health insurance. 15
(b) Recommend a particular qualified health benefit plan or 16
health insurance policy. 17
(c) Provide any information or services related to insurance 18
regulated under this act other than qualified health benefit plans 19
or other products offered in the exchange. 20
(5) Before providing services to or acting for an individual 21
under subsection (3), a certified application counselor shall 22
disclose any potential conflict of interest to the individual. 23
Sec. 1264. (1) In addition to any other powers under this act, 24
the director may place on probation, suspend, or revoke a 25
certificate or may levy a civil fine under section 1270, or take 26
any combination of actions, and the director shall refuse to issue 27
a certificate under section 1263, for any 1 or more causes that 28
would be a ground for refusal, suspension, or revocation of an 29
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insurance producer's license under section 1239. The director may 1
revoke a certificate of a person or refuse to issue a certificate 2
for a person that receives financial compensation, including 3
monetary and in-kind compensation, gifts, or any compensation 4
related to enrollment from an insurer offering qualified health 5
benefits plans through an exchange operating in this state. The 6
director may deny, suspend, approve, renew, or revoke a certificate 7
if the director considers it necessary to protect insureds and the 8
public. 9
(2) The certificate of a business entity may be suspended, 10
revoked, or refused if the director finds, after hearing, that an 11
individual certificate holder's violation was known or should have 12
been known by 1 or more of the partners, officers, or managers 13
acting on behalf of the business entity and the violation was 14
neither reported to the director nor corrective action taken. 15
(3) The director may examine the books and records of a 16
certificate holder to determine whether the certificate holder is 17
conducting its business in accordance with this chapter. For the 18
purpose of facilitating the examination, the certificate holder 19
shall allow the director free access, at reasonable times, to all 20
of the certificate holder's books and records relating to 21
transactions to which this chapter applies. 22
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect 23
unless Senate Bill No. 973 of the 103rd Legislature is enacted into 24
law. 25