Idea to Limit Auto Claims in Michigan Criticized

February 22, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle4 Comments

The top elected official in Michigan’s Oakland County is criticizing proposals from fellow Republicans to change Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance program to limit the amount of medical claims.

The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press report that Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson this week offered his opinions on the proposals. Patterson says an August crash in Auburn Hills in which he was a passenger influenced his perspective.

Patterson was seriously injured in the crash in Auburn Hills. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was fined. His driver, James Cram, is a quadriplegic after the crash.

The state Legislature has been considering a lifetime cap on medical benefits and limiting payments insurers have to make for treating auto accident victims.

No legislation has been introduced yet this year.

 

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Midwest NewsTopics: limit medical claims, Michigan, no-fault auto insurance program, Oakland County, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks PattersonHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Michigan Governor Proposes New Department of Insurance and Finance

January 17, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle4 Comments

Michigan Gov. Rick Synder has proposed the creation of a new Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

Snyder, who is beginning his third year as governor, said the new department will

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Young Michigan Immigrants Sue to Get Right To Drive

December 20, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle6 Comments

Three young people are suing the Michigan secretary of state over her refusal to grant driver’s licenses to applicants who can stay in the U.S. under a new federal immigration policy.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, says the immigrants should be eligible for licenses if they’re allowed to stay in the U.S. The lawsuit asks a Detroit federal judge to issue an injunction to stop the state’s policy.

The plaintiffs announced Wednesday are a 20-year-old medical student in Detroit, a 17-year-old high school student from Ann Arbor and a 21-year-old University of Michigan student.

President Barack Obama last summer said immigrants who entered the country illegally as children wouldn’t face deportation under certain conditions.

An email seeking comment was sent to the secretary of state’s office.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.About Ed WhiteAssociated PressEmail ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Midwest NewsTopics: drivers license, lawsuit, MichiganHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Judge Says Michigan Car Insurance Fund Records Are Public

January 4, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

An insurance fund that slaps a fee on every Michigan car to pay for catastrophic injuries suffered in accidents has been ordered to open its books and demonstrate how it sets the annual rate.

The decision by an Ingham County judge could shed more light on the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, which was created by the Legislature to reimburse insurance companies for claims that exceed $500,000.

Michigan’s no-fault insurance law provides unlimited lifetime coverage for medical expenses tied to auto wrecks. Michigan drivers now pay $175 per car per year – a sum that’s up 67 percent since 2008 – on top of other charges by their insurer.

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Indiana Has 32 Fungal Meningitis Cases; Michigan, 44

October 19, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Indiana has 32 cases of fungal meningitis linked to injections of a recalled back pain steroid, and authorities in Michigan are reporting 44 cases of fungal meningitis, along with four non-meningitis infection cases related to the same contaminated steroids.

The Indiana State Department of Health reported two new cases Wednesday. Two Indiana patients have died.

The state agency has released no details about the two deaths or the clinics they’re linked to. Its policy is to withhold details about where the Indiana cases are located.

Relatives of 89-year-old Pauline Burema of Cassopolis, Mich., have said they believe she contracted the disease after receiving an injection at the OSMC Outpatient Surgery Center in Elkhart. Burema died Oct. 10, and the family is awaiting autopsy results on the cause. A granddaughter has said the clinic has told its patients it had at least eight cases.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Michigan count of 48 total infections was up by 20 from one week earlier.

Michigan’s death toll remains at four, including the death of a Cass County woman whose meningitis was linked to treatments for back pain across the state border at an Indiana clinic. Her case is included in Indiana’s count.

A steroid made by a Massachusetts pharmacy has been tied to a national outbreak of the rare fungal form of meningitis. It has killed 19 people nationwide.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Midwest NewsTopics: Indiana, meningitis outbreak, Safety & Loss ControlHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Auto Insurance Fee Rekindles Michigan Law Debate

April 13, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

An increase in the amount Michigan drivers will pay into a fund for accident victims with brain damage, paralysis and other catastrophic injuries is renewing a call by some lawmakers for more transparency in how the rates are determined and broader insurance reforms.

The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association in March announced that the state’s insured drivers will pay $30 more per vehicle annually into the fund effective July 1, raising the per-vehicle assessment to $175. The 21 percent increase is needed, the association said, to cover the costs of Michigan’s one-of-a-kind law providing uncapped lifetime coverage for medical expenses resulting from auto accidents.

The state’s law could be altered as Michigan legislators consider broader changes to no-fault auto insurance later this year. Bills pending in the Legislature would offer motorists potentially less expensive insurance in exchange for limited personal injury protection coverage.

But some lawmakers want faster and independent action, saying the claims association should be subject to open meeting and freedom of information laws to help shed light on how rates are determined.

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