No-Fault attorneys and auto insurance group CPAN file lawsuit to get protected info about the MCCA – in the ongoing effort to expose No-Fault “reform”
CPAN, a coalition opposing Michigan No-Fault insurance “reform” has filed a lawsuit against the insurance industry association that handles medical bills for seriously injured auto accident victims, the MCCA.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with these two groups, CPAN is the Coalition Protecting Auto No-Fault. The MCCA is the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. The MCCA currently provides lifetime benefits for people who sustain debilitating injuries in auto accidents after their medical treatment exceeds $500,000.
CPAN is claiming the law that created the MCCA improperly left out information about how much it is paying out on catastrophic personal injury claims from auto accidents in Michigan.
According to published reports, CPAN officials say that money paid into the catastrophic claims fund is the public’s money, and that information related to the cost of claims and age of claimants is needed, so legislators can make informed decisions before voting on stripping away vital protections from citizens as part of No-Fault “reform.”
Remember, a portion of your No-Fault insurance that you pay as part of your premium goes into the MCCA fund.
CPAN and its attorneys previously attempted to obtain information on the fund through the Freedom of Information Act, but were rejected. Michigan No-Fault attorneys who handle PIP attendant care claims (including the lawyers here at Michigan Auto Law ), have been trying for years to access this information, as the MCCA ends up calling all the shots in major No-Fault and attendant care litigation cases. But until now, there has been no accountability for their decisions.
As such, our Michigan No-Fault attorneys couldn’t agree more that there is a serious need for this information. This information has been hidden, and abused, for decades. Hundreds of the most seriously injured and vulnerable members of our society have paid the price.
A little sunlight now is past due – when some legislators (and the auto insurance companies that contribute to them) are trying to dismantle the Michigan No-Fault system at the expense of stripping away valuable protections in favor of Michigan insurance companies that already lead the nation in profitability.
Before we rob Michigan drivers of the best auto insurance protections in the nation, let’s take a good look at how our current system is working. As far as I can see, providing lifetime medical care for necessary PIP benefits and attendant care (nursing care services) to auto accident victims with life-altering spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries is the better way than throwing these people onto Medicaid and leaving it to the taxpayers. Especially when these insurance companies are far more profitable than they’ve been letting on.
If every person in the state with an auto insurance policy pays a reasonable fee into the fund annually ($145 per vehicle as it is now), then this fund will not disintegrate, as insurance industry advocates contend. It will continue to serve its purpose of covering people with the most serious auto accident injuries for life.
There are many, many more questions that need answers before we turn our No-Fault insurance system on its head.
Why fix a system that is has been proven in study after study to work better than in any other state in the nation? Why save insurance companies who are already amazingly profitable additional millions upon millions of dollars (approximately $100 million a year according to one recent study) in exchange for sacrificing our drivers’ valuable insurance protections? And what possible compelling public policy reason is there to move this burden away from these insurance companies and onto taxpayers, which is exactly what happens when the responsibility to care for catastrophic injury accidents is shifted from No-Fault insurance to Medicaid?
Here’s a recent article about the CPAN’s Ingham County Lawsuit in the Detroit Free Press.
Let the MCCA lawsuit proceed!
- Steve Gursten is one of the nation’s top No-Fault attorneys handling auto accident lawsuits. He is head of Michigan Auto Law and president of the Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association. Steve has received the highest verdict in the state for a car accident or truck accident victim in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
– Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by 401k
Related information to protect yourselves:
CPAN study highlights dangers of No-Fault “reform”
Charade over No-Fault reform “savings” has stopped
Your Michigan No-Fault benefits
Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights. Call (800) 777-0028 to speak with one of our Michigan No-Fault attorneys.
I agree we need some form of MCCA but their has to be a LIMIT for the cost(going up to 175.00 7-1-12). This kink of charge will only make people cancel their Ins. Also info about the MCCA is hard to come by and I think this Fund has been misused by the State and Lawyers. We have to clean it up or just git rid of it–period. Michigan Motorist already pay a high Ins premium per Yr compared to other States
Wayne,
I couldn’t agree more! That’s why I applaud the lawsuit that was recently filed to force the MCCA to disclose its finances. That the MCCA has refused for years to divulge any such information despite being funded from taxpayers is an incredible abuse of power and arrogance.
Frankenmuth executive staff took 90 people on a trip to Greece which cost approximately 5 million dollars for one week – that equates to about 53K per person. In a proximate time span, they wrote OFIR asking to charge higher premiums, complaining they were not able to make a profit. In that same time span, they froze their employee’s pension plan and discontinued it going forward. The the executives take the board members and all spouses (board and executive wives) to exclusive resorts for an entire week, funded with policyholder money. After being pampered for a week, the annual board meeting is held wherein the board votes on executive pay and bonuses. At a minimum this practice has the perception of a clear conflict of interest if not a flat out buy off of board members. No wonder executives can build 12,000 sq foot retirement homes on million dollar lakefront plots in Bay Harbor. This is one of the reasons Michigan policyholders pay too much for insurance. The insurance companies are not going broke – executive greed and egregious behavior are the problem.