About 300 people, including United Methodist religious leaders and members, advocates and catastrophic car crash survivors went to the state Capitol on Wednesday for prayers, meetings with legislators, and a rally.
They hope to convince Republican and Democratic lawmakers to modify the state's 2019 auto no-fault law.
Payment cuts from the law's revamp left many crash survivors with spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries with little access to long term care — including residential rehab treatment, agency home care, or more than 56 hours of family caregiving — even if the injured family member needs round-the-clock care.
State Representative Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo) said there is bipartisan support for fixing the law.
"Letting insurance companies rather than health professionals dictate what sort of care survivors receive is unacceptable," she said.
State Senator Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Twp.) shepherded a bill through the state Senate last year that would have significantly increased payments to agency home care workers, and allowed family caregivers to be paid for all of the hours they cared for injured loved ones.
The bill was blocked from moving forward in the state House by two Democrats — Insurance Committee Chair Brenda Carter, and House Speaker Joe Tate. Republicans now have control of the state House.
At the rally, Cavanagh said she will not give up on getting the law fixed.
"[The] auto no-fault system is a promise that if you ever face a catastrophic accident, that you will have access to care and the resources that you need and paid for. That promise has been broken," Cavanagh said.
Nearly three people a day are in car accidents that leave them with severe, often life-long catastrophic injuries, according to the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, the insurance-run fund charged with paying the costs of long-term care. The fund now mainly only pays for long-term care for people who were injured before the 2019 law passed.
The Insurance Alliance of Michigan says the law shouldn't be changed because it saves drivers money. The savings amount to about 24 dollars a year per vehicle on average, according to IAM testimony before a Senate committee last year. During that hearing, an IAM official said insurance companies will raise car insurance rates by an average $100 to $300 a year if changes are made to the law.
