By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


Michigan’s Attorney General is calling for the federal government to put a freeze on prices of medical supplies during the pandemic.

Attorney General Dana Nessel is leading a coalition of AG’s from 12 states and has sent a letter to Congress asking for a price freeze on PPE supplies and medical equipment like ventilators. She told WHMI that the shortages of these critical goods have caused competitive bidding wars making it difficult to secure them, and that Congress needs to step in. She said “this is an unprecedented crisis in our nation’s history and our state’s history. We absolutely can’t have these suppliers forcing us to bid against each other and then basically deciding who will potentially live or die based on what state or municipality has the most money to be able to pay the highest price for these important and essential goods.”


Nessel said Michigan, which is in the top 10 of infected states and had the 3rd most positive detections for weeks until recently, has been outbid by other states and entities in this time. While Michigan could enact their own legislation to control prices, Nessel says it wouldn’t help fill the need, as suppliers would just go to other states. She said this is a national crisis that calls for a national solution, and that there is precedence for doing so.

The coalition of Attorney Generals is asking Congress to intervene and enact legislation similar to the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, enacted during World War II -fixing the prices of medical supplies and equipment that hospitals and emergency treatment centers need in fighting the war against this ‘invisible enemy.’ Nessel said, in a release, this country needs a united effort to keep the health care industry from unjustly profiting while the American people suffer. She continued, stating that while in normal times supply and demand drives prices, during a public emergency, when lives are at stake, government intervention is sometimes needed.