Advocates continue to call for changes to Michigan no-fault auto insurance
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - It was in 2019 when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed no-fault auto reforms into law, and despite some movement in the legislature in the last year, advocates say the care crisis in Michigan is still ongoing.
"I'm in a wheelchair because I got in a car accident when I was three," said Annabelle Marsh, who was at the Michigan Capitol with her mom Brandi last November.
They were there advocating for a change in the law so that Annabelle could get more care.
"I mean, we've watched our friends lose care; we've watched them in and out of the hospital, and we've watched them die. It's inevitable that if it does not change, it will be us, and I can't tell you how that feels as a mom," Brandi said.
The auto no-fault reforms, which took effect in 2022, were meant to lower insurance costs in Michigan, but they also changed the way care companies are reimbursed, making the cost of care nearly double.
In the years since, advocates say there has only been a little movement in the legislature toward a fix.
"Senate bills 530, 531 and 575 would have created a reasonable fee schedule, a narrow solution to end the crisis in care," said Tom Judd, the executive director of the Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council. "This is the type of solution that the governor has been calling for, that the legislature have been calling for. The Senate produced it, and it has since languished."
Judd says that the quickest way to provide relief to people who are reliant on consistent care would be to change the fee schedule.
"We need reasonable and adequate reimbursement rates that are in line with what other payer sources pay for these types of services," Judd said. "That's all we're asking for."
