Early this morning, May 9, 2019, the House of Representatives voted to make sweeping changes to Michigan’s no-fault insurance law.
After the Senate passed its own no-fault reform proposal on Tuesday, May 7, the House voted 61 to 49 to advance House Bill 4397 to the Senate. Three Democrats joined all 58 Republicans in supporting the legislation.
The differences between the bills have to be resolved before a final no-fault reform package can be sent to the governor’s desk, possibly as early as next week (May 13). The governor has vowed to veto the Senate version so it’s unclear at this time if she will support the House passed plan.
The House proposal is similar to the bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday. The most notable changes are the PIP choice options and the addition of a mandatory rate reduction. Under the House version, insurers would be required to offer PIP coverage levels of:
- $50,000 coverage option plus $200,000 in the hospital immediately after any injury
- $250,000
- $500,000
- Unlimited PIP option
In addition, the House bill requires a mandatory rate rollback based on the level of PIP chosen for a five-year period. The mandatory rollback would be:
- Opting Out of PIP – 100% rollback of PIP
- $50,000 coverage option – 80% on the PIP portion of the policy
- $250,000 coverage option – 60% on the PIP portion of the policy
- $500,000 coverage option – 30% on the PIP portion of the policy
- Unlimited coverage option – 10% on the PIP portion of the policy
We will keep you updated on what is happening at the Capitol and provide you with more in-depth details when both Chambers have passed a final bill that will go to the governor.
*Article provided by the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents