The Michigan Senate has taken an initial step toward overhauling Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance system.
The legislation would set limits on what hospitals could charge insurance companies. It would also cap what insurers can be charged for in-home care for people severely injured in car accidents.
“The best approach to bringing down insurance rates in Michigan is to get costs out of the system – to get costs out of the system,” said state Senator Joe Hune (R-Fowlerville), who chairs the Senate Insurance Committee,
The two bills were put on an unusually fast track through the Senate. That had Democrats crying foul.
“There is nothing in this bill that rolls back rates or even guarantees rollbacked rates!” shouted state Senator Coleman Young (D-Detroit). “Nothing!”
“Frankly, in this chamber what we’re doing today is protecting corporate stakeholders over and above the people that we all represent,” said state Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Detroit).
Unaffordable rates in Detroit was a focal point of the debate. Democrats say patient care will suffer and there’s no promise to make insurance more affordable.
There is also a spending provision in one of the bills that would ensure a new insurance law could not be repealed by a voter referendum.
The two bills now go to the state House. Swift action is not expected.
