Auto No-Fault bill decimates Michigan’s ability to provide care and recovery for brain injury survivors
Deal also devastates post-acute care industry, killing thousands of jobs
BRIGHTON, Mich. — (May 24, 2019)— The Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council (MBIPC), which represents providers who work with catastrophically injured auto accident victims, said the auto no-fault reform bill passed by the Michigan Legislature today is an attack on Michigan’s most vulnerable residents—and also devastates the job-providing post-acute care industry in Michigan.
“Michigan was the only state in the country to give accident victims the ability to maintain the best possible quality of life, post-injury,” said Tim Hoste, president of MBIPC. “These reforms decimate Michigan’s ability to remain the nation’s leader in the care and recovery of brain injury.”
MBIPC’s members are committed to providing high quality, ethical rehabilitation services, with the mission of achieving the best outcomes for patients. These highly-trained professionals, who provide a wide spectrum of rehabilitative care for brain injury survivors, have seen how Michigan’s no-fault system allows families to have life-changing rehabilitation and therapies without facing medical bankruptcy. Its members have also been forced, on a daily basis, to come up with creative ways to continue that care, when big insurance companies delay and deny legitimate claims.
The effects of this agreement will have a financial impact on all communities and result in the loss of thousands of jobs statewide. Meanwhile, higher costs will be placed on Medicaid, community mental health services, local assistance organizations, social services, law enforcement and more.
MBIPC had advocated for a package of cost-cutting reforms – including a fair fee schedule, a strong fraud authority and increased oversight of insurance companies—that has yet to see the light of day, no doubt thanks to intense lobbying from the auto insurance industry.
“It is a sad day for Michigan,” Hoste said. “We have hundreds of rehabilitation centers located across our great state, with thousands of incredible employees dedicated to improving the lives of auto accident victims. We hope we can continue to work with the Governor and state leaders to ensure catastrophically injured victims continue to have access to Michigan’s best-in-the-nation providers.”
Dr. Owen Perlman, who has provided critical care for brain injury victims for decades, said he hoped state government would still be able to give providers the tools they need to offer patients the best possible quality of life.
“The insurance companies and legislature are not health care providers, yet they are dictating these reforms,” Perlman said. “We are on the front lines everyday trying to give people as much independence as possible, but we need the tools to do it.”
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Members of the Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council are committed to providing high quality, ethical rehabilitation services, with the mission of achieving the best outcomes for patients. As a trade association established in 1987 and based in Brighton, Michigan, MBIPC offers resource-sharing, information exchange, professional development and education, advocacy for brain injury standards of care and legislation protecting Michigan families, and the promotion of ethical conduct.
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