FLINT, Michigan – More changes could be coming to Michigan’s recently overhauled no-fault auto insurance system. The state Senate passed a bill last week that would increase reimbursement rates for medical providers.
Cody Cantrell is one of the many people in the state who would benefit from the changes. In April 2016, Cantrell was injured in a head-on collision near Midland. His mother says it was a miracle he survived.
“He was crushed from head to toe,” said his mother, Laura Cantrell. “Severe TBI. He cannot talk [or] walk. He has to have everything done for him.”
After the accident, Cantrell had to quit her job to care for her son full time. It’s a job she can’t do alone.
“I battled breast cancer, and then I had a broken collarbone, arthritis, carpal tunnel, and as I was doing that for a couple of years, it just took a toll on my right side,” Cantrell said, “so I couldn’t do it anymore.”
Before 2019, Cantrell had no problem paying for the 48-hour home care that Cody needs. But after the reforms took effect, insurance would only cover half of the care.
Now Cantrell is on her second home care provider, and if she doesn’t pay them in 30 days, the care will be cut off completely.
“At the moment, the care company I have is in debt and if they don’t get paid, they’ll have to cut me off and I don’t know where or what I’m going to do,” Cantrell said.
Proposed changes to the law are designed to help people like Cantrell. It increases the amount of money medical providers receive to provide care, but some argue that the increase will also raise rates for everyone else.
In a statement issued shortly after the bill passed the Senate, Erin McDonough, the executive director of the Insurance Alliance of Michigan, said: “Michigan families and small businesses that are already struggling with rising costs will take another hit to their wallets if this legislation becomes law. While we urged caution and careful consideration of the consequences this legislation would have on Michigan’s 7.2 million drivers, the Senate moved forward today with a plan that could cost drivers at least $865 million and potentially more than $1 billion each year. More than 2 million Michigan drivers have chosen non-limited personal injury protection coverage, which means the out-of-control medical costs included in the Senate bills will eat away at those policies more quickly. We urge the Michigan House to slow down and consider these consequences more fully.
Cantrell says she will gladly accept an increase in insurance if it means her son will get the care he needs.
“If I knew I was going to get what I had, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. It was lifelong care,” Cantrell said.
The package of bills now awaits approval by the Michigan House Insurance and Financial Services Committee. It would then go to the full House for consideration.
