MBIPC Applauds Introduction of HB 4992, Which Would Protect Access to Care for Vulnerable Accident Victims

BRIGHTON, Mich. – (June 10, 2021) —The Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council applauds House Bill 4992, which was introduced today by State Representative Ryan Berman (R-Commerce Township). The bill would fix the looming crisis of care caused by an unintended consequence of the auto reform package passed in 2019.

“Just as many roads lead to Rome, multiple bills can achieve the same result of averting a crisis of care,” said MBIPC President Tom Judd. “Right now, thousands of Michigan’s most vulnerable face the prospect of losing the care that allows them to work, to be participants in their communities, and, in the cases of those who require ventilators to survive, to live. The Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council has said from Day 1 that we are willing to sit down at the table and work with lawmakers and the auto insurance industry to find viable solutions to the crisis our state is headed toward come July 1.”

The bill joins two other bills—House Bill 4486 and Senate Bill 314—in offering a pathway to protect access to care for vulnerable accident victims. HB 4992 and HB 4486 address the problem in different ways, but ultimately, both achieve the same objective. The Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council supports whichever direction the Legislature wishes to take, as long as the end result is the same: Protecting and saving the care patients need and deserve.

In March, HB 4486 and SB 314 were introduced. Both bills would impose a reasonable fee schedule—that is, both bills would impose a cap on provider reimbursements at their 2019 level, instead of what is slated to happen following July 1, which is gutting the amount that caregivers receive for doing complex, high-intensity work.

Where HB 4486 implements a fair and reasonable fee schedule based on 200% of Medicare, HB 4992 utilizes a market average that would be set annually by the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS).

“The legislature now has two viable options to protect and save the care of current and future accident victims,” Judd said. “Time is running out. The Legislature needs to act.”