FOX 47 News: Michigan's no-fault reform could hurt those who need rehabilitation; advocates push for fix

In this FOX 47 news story, Elle Meyers spotlights the unintended consequences of the new provider fee schedule that will leave families without necessary rehabilitative care after July 1.

The article features the Brain Injury Association of Michigan’s President and CEO Tom Constand; Courtnie Bush, an auto accident victim from Onondaga, and her mother, Jenna; and Lane Bargeron, an auto accident survivor, and his wife, Emily, from Saint Johns.

In the article, Tom Constand shares the following details around the fee schedule’s devastating impacts:

The new fee schedule would cap care facilities at a 55% maximum charge for services not covered by Medicare.

“Essentially that means that businesses need to have at least 45% net operating profit in order to survive,” Constand said.

Studies conducted for the Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council found that up to 5,000 providers in the state would lose their jobs.

Constand, whose own son survived a traumatic brain injury in 2010 says “It hit me how fortunate I was to be in Michigan where we had this wide array of rehabilitation facilities to select from. I didn’t need to leave my job, I didn’t have to upend my life and my family didn’t need to open their schedules to make sure that my son got the care that he did. He got it 20 minutes away.”

Read the full article here at FOX 47 News.