Summary — HB 4466 (2025)
Title: Health: licensing; sanctions for performing gender reassignment procedures or treatment to minors; provide for. Amends secs. 16221 & 16226 of 1978 PA 368 (MCL 333.16221 & 333.16226). Tie bar with: HB 4467 (2025)
Status & timeline
- Introduced: March 11, 2025 (Rep. Jaime Greene).
- Enacted: Signed by Governor June 20, 2025.
- Effective date: September 1, 2025.
- Procedural note: House and Senate passed the bill in May 2025; it carries a tie-bar with HB 4467, meaning the measures are intended to be considered/operative together.
Purpose / intent
HB 4466 amends two provisions of Michigan’s Public Health Code (MCL 333.16221 and 333.16226) to create (or clarify) licensing and disciplinary consequences for health professionals who perform or provide gender reassignment procedures or treatments to minors. The amendments incorporate a final order or judgment under the state’s “protecting minors from chemical and surgical mutilation act” into the list of prohibited acts that can trigger disciplinary action.
Key provisions and changes
- Investigation and enforcement framework: The bill requires the relevant department (as defined in the Public Health Code) to investigate allegations that grounds for disciplinary action exist, to hold hearings, administer oaths, obtain testimony, and forward administrative complaints to the appropriate disciplinary subcommittee.
- New express disciplinary ground: The bill adds, among prohibited acts in MCL 333.16221(c), “a final order or judgment under the protecting minors from chemical and surgical mutilation act” as a per se basis for disciplinary subcommittee action. In practice this ties violation of that separate statutory prohibition to professional licensing sanctions.
- Continued application of existing disciplinary processes: If the disciplinary subcommittee finds one or more of the enumerated grounds (now including the protecting minors act final order), it proceeds under section 16226, using the existing statutory procedures for hearings and sanctions.
- Cross-reference: Section 16221 begins with “Subject to section 16221b,” indicating interplay with other specified statutory limits or procedures (text of 16221b not reproduced here).
Who is affected
- Licensed health professionals, registrants, and applicants for licensure or registration under the Public Health Code — they may face investigation and disciplinary proceedings if alleged to have violated the protecting minors statute.
- Licensing boards and disciplinary subcommittees that adjudicate complaints and impose sanctions (e.g., reprimand, suspension, revocation).
- Health care organizations and clinics that employ affected providers.
- Minors and families seeking gender-affirming care — the bill enforces existing prohibitions (via licensing sanctions) against providing certain procedures/treatments to minors as defined by the referenced act.
Practical impact and considerations
- Enforcement mechanism: By making a final order/judgment under the protecting minors act a standalone basis for professional discipline, the bill strengthens licensing enforcement—administrative sanctions can follow court or statutory findings under that act.
- Potential provider behavior changes: Providers may alter clinical practice for minors to avoid enforcement risk; licensing boards will have an explicit statutory basis to discipline licensees linked to violations of the protecting minors statute.
- Interplay with HB 4467: The tie-bar indicates related or companion provisions in HB 4467 should be considered together for full context of the statutory scheme.
Limitations
- The bill text provided is truncated and does not show the full amended language of section 16226; this summary is based on the available portions and the bill’s title and actions tying disciplinary authority to the “protecting minors from chemical and surgical mutilation act.”
