Legislation meant to tide over health care providers impacted by an impending change to how much they’re reimbursed when treating auto-related injuries advanced in the Legislature on Wednesday.
Last week, the Michigan House voted through an amended version of Senate Bill 28 to create a $10 million fund for post-acute brain and spinal injury facilities and attendant care providers seeing structural losses as a result of the pending changes. On Wednesday, the Senate revised that number upward, approving $25 million for the fund.
The amended version of the bill now heads back to the House for further review.
Payments would be provided on a first-come, first-served basis, and providers could only get the funds if they provide information about the charges for their services when treating both auto and non-auto related injuries and can prove that they’re facing a “systematic deficit” caused by changes to the state’s no-fault system.
Related: House-passed bill would create fund for health providers caring for auto accident victims
Come July, reimbursement from insurance companies for health care services provided to auto accident survivors not covered by Medicare will see a 45% cut under the fee schedule laid out in the 2019 law. That change, many current post-acute care providers say, will either put them out of business or require them to stop providing services to auto accident patients. And car accident victims fear they’ll lose access to high-quality care.
Some health care providers treating auto accident victims were critical of the fund proposal, calling it too little and too late to help struggling businesses and survivors. The Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council announced in a Wednesday statement that it opposed the program, urging lawmakers to change the policy instead.
“This program laid out in Senate Bill 28 does not offer enough relief in a timely fashion, or to the degree necessary to give providers the ability to maintain payroll and operations,” said Tom Judd, the council’s president. “The inevitable result is the imminent disruption of care and displacement of vulnerable accident survivors throughout Michigan.”
In 2019, the Republican-led Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer agreed to an overhaul of Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance system, aimed at lowering the state’s highest-in-the-nation costs, signing into law bills that passed with wide bipartisan support.
Part of that change was giving drivers the option to choose their desired level of personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, which went into effect last summer — but another big piece of the deal was setting up a fee schedule for how much health providers can bill insurance companies when treating auto-related injuries.
Sen. Curtis Hertel, Jr., D-East Lansing, said he doesn’t think $25 million is enough to fix the issue, but thinks it will give providers a “bridge” while the Legislature continues the debate.
“Do I think $25 million is enough? Not even close,” he said. “What I do believe is that that is a bridge to this body and the House trying to find an answer, and those families deserve nothing less than that.”
Related: Crash victims, health providers cry foul over impending change to auto injury medical fees
House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, said last week that the fund could help lawmakers determine any issues with the current policy and what to do moving forward, according to Gongwer News Service.
Supporters of the policy set to take effect in July say the law’s changes to reimbursement fees are a key part of the equation when it comes to lowering auto insurance rates. The Insurance Alliance of Michigan estimates Michigan drivers have saved more than $1 billion from reductions to the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association’s per-vehicle fee alone, not counting any individual savings drivers might have seen from choosing different levels of PIP coverage.
Average car insurance rates have declined substantially since the first phase of Michigan’s auto insurance law went into effect, but it’s still one of the most expensive places in the country to insure a car.
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Gov. Whitmer signs bill overhauling Michigan auto insurance
Michigan orders auto insurance refunds due to ‘extreme reductions in driving’
Michiganders to see another drop in auto insurance fee in 2021
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