APRIL 21 • 2022 | 33

But under this 
law Michigan had 
the highest auto 
insurance premi-
ums in the United 
States. From the 
beginning, oppo-
nents have tried to 
repeal expensive 
provisions of the 
law, especially mandatory unlim-
ited personal injury coverage. 
After decades of activity, they 
succeeded. 
 A bipartisan bill offering the 
option of lower personal injury 
protection and cutting benefits 
even to those who opt for unlim-
ited coverage, was signed into 
law by Michigan Gov. Gretchen 
Whitmer on May 30, 2019.

THE NEW LAW 
According to a statement of the 
Department of Insurance and 
Financial Services of the State of 

Michigan (DIFS), “Mandatory 
unlimited Personal Injury 
Protection (PIP) medical ben-
efits proved too expensive for 
many Michigan families. Some 
drivers who could not afford 
costly unlimited coverage were 
driving uninsured.
”
But that meant that if your 
catastrophic auto accident in 
Michigan happened after July 
1, 2020, you no longer could 
count on unlimited medical 
benefits. The law somehow also 
cut benefits from survivors of 
catastrophic injuries who were 
already receiving care under the 
old law. Anita Fox, director of 
DIFS, explains that the new law 
“didn’t change what an accident 
victim is entitled to; an accident 
victim is still entitled to anything 
related to their medical care 
rehabilitation. But it changed 
the amount that their providers 
could be compensated by the 
insurance company for that 
care.
”
Cutting compensation does 
mean that patients sometimes 
cannot get the care they need. 
This was not an unforeseeable 
consequence of the law. Robert 
Wittenberg, now treasurer of 
Oakland County, 
then a representative 
in the Michigan 
House (D), 
explained his vote 
against the law: “I 
absolutely foresaw 
the problem, and I 
was worried about 
the quality of care accident sur-
vivors would receive.
”
A bipartisan group of legis-
lators opposed cutting benefits 
to survivors who were already 
receiving care and opposed the 
sharp limitations to “unlimited” 
care for future victims. 
Dr. Perlman’s patient was 
one of those who got reduced 
care under the new law. With 
reduced payments for daily care, 
and unable to pay for an atten-
dant to get the patient dressed 
and safely to work, the patient 

lost her job and, consequently, 
her home. Survivors of cat-
astrophic injuries now often 
wind up in nursing homes. 

WORKING TO 
MAKE A CHANGE
Because of cases like this one, 
Dr. Perlman founded the 
Michigan Interfaith Coalition: 
Advocating to Fix Michigan’s 
Humanitarian Crisis. 
Kaci Messeder, policy analyst 
for Detroit Disability Power, 
estimates that “over 2,300 survi-
vors who were already receiving 
care experienced drastic cuts 
to that care — many have been 
forced to leave their homes and 
seven have died.
”
The legislators have spear-
headed bills to patch various 
holes in the current law. Moss 
voted against the new law, and 
declares, “Not a day passes in 
which I do not work to oppose 
the new law, and to restore 
coverage to the catastrophically 
injured accident survivors.
” 
Sen. Doug Wozniak (R), 
voted for the 2019 law, but 
now observes that 
“legislators from 
both sides of the 
aisle have proposed 
about 10 serious 
bills to fix the 
problems with the 
new auto insurance 
law. It is not just 
one side of the aisle.
” 
How does the 2019 law limit 
“unlimited” care? It caps the 
number of hours that friends 
or family receive payments for 
a patient’s attendant care at 56 
per week. The patient may need 
attendant care all day every 
day, 168 hours per week, but 
the insurance does not have to 
pay for the additional hours. 
Wozniak says, “limiting the care 
to 55 hours makes no sense.
” 
Rep. Phil Green (R) has 
offered HB 5698, which would 
increase the number of compen-
sated hours per week to 110. 
The 2019 law caps payments 

for professional attendant care 
at 55% of what they charged 
on Jan. 1, 2019. Unsurprisingly, 
businesses that provide atten-
dant care have closed, and their 
workers have left the field. Most 
providers of attendant care, in 
the best of times a poorly com-
pensated line of work, apparently 
cannot survive a drastic pay cut. 
Primarily because of these 
limits on mandatory payments, 
the Michigan Catastrophic 
Claims Association now shows 
a surplus. It holds more money 
than it expects to need to cover 
payments. The MCCA has 
therefore issued a refund of $400 
per insured vehicle to insured 
drivers. Wittenberg observes, 

Anita Fox, the director 
of the Department of 
Insurance and Financial 
Services of the State of 
Michigan, recommends that 
survivors of auto accidents 
and their families call “a 
special dedicated line for 
auto no-fault: 1-833 ASK 
DIFS, so that we can con-
nect with any family that 
wants our help. We have a 
website. We have an online 
complaint form as well 
. . . Because we do agree 
that access to care is very 
important.”
DIFS can try to get the 
best services at current 
levels of coverage, but DIFS 
does not have the power to 
restore the earlier levels of 
unlimited coverage.

Sen. 
Jeremy 
Moss

Sen. Doug 
Wozniak

Robert 
Wittenberg

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