Kent County Star

Last week, the House Insurance Committee passed HB 4936, a bill that would eliminate Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance system.

According to Rep. Jeff Irwin, “This change will mean that more families will be bankrupted by car accidents, more patients will receive substandard or insufficient care and the taxpayers will be picking up more of the expenses that insurance companies would rather avoid.”

The highlights of this proposal are:

1. No requirements for insurance companies to reduce rates to reflect their reduced liabilities.

2. Consumers will be prevented from buying “unlimited coverage,” as they do today. Instead, consumers can buy $500K, $1M or $5M in LIFETIME coverage. Once coverage is exhausted, victims and their families would be left to bankruptcy and eventually Medicare/Medicaid.

3. Finally, if this bill passes, auto-accident victims in Michigan will be forced to seek compensation in our courts. This will clog our courts with long and complicated auto-related cases – costing millions in litigation, when those dollars should be saved for medical care.

“Thousands of jobs will be lost almost immediately,” said Irwin. “Instead of aggressive rehabilitation, victims will be pushed toward taxpayer-funded nursing home care.”