Oakland County Exec. L. Brooks Patterson blasts D-Insurance

Patterson says D-Insurance’s $25,000 cap on non-critical medical care is ‘paltry’ and ‘destroys the lifetime benefits’ of catastrophically injured auto accident victims

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson doesn’t mince words.

Thankfully, that trait was seen in full force on the issue of Michigan’s No Fault auto insurance system – and efforts by the insurance industry and its lobbyists to dismantle its legal protections and medical care, attendant care and wage loss benefits.

I believe D-Insurance is a terrible idea.  I’ve written why here and here. Nevertheless, I’m an attorney, and one who devotes his entire legal practice to No Fault insurance, so some people might dismiss my own comments about the dangers of D-Insurance. That’s why having another voice – in this case a fiscally conservative Republican voice – is so nice to see here.

In a December 2015, “Auto No-Fault” letter to lawmakers in the Michigan House of Representatives, Mr. Patterson lets loose as only he can on his contempt for both the “D-Insurance Plan,” the so-called low-cost auto insurance proposal championed by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and Senate Bill 248, the so-called No Fault “reform” legislation that was passed by the Senate within a month of its introduction, but has not been acted upon by the Michigan House.

Of the D-Insurance Plan, Mr. Patterson wrote:

“You [“the Detroit Legislative block of voters in the House”] understand how [the D-Insurance] proposal destroys the lifetime benefits for people who are catastrophically injured in an auto accident.”

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“D‐Insurance replaces [the No Fault Law’s guarantee of catastrophic coverage for catastrophically injured auto accident victims] with $25,000 of benefits once you are medically stable (a determination to be made by the insurance companies). Incredibl[y], the Mayor of Detroit would scrap lifetime protection for a paltry $25,000. Under today’s costs, that’s about two weeks in the life of a catastrophically injured victim.”

Similarly, Mr. Patterson had the following to say about the No Fault “reform” plan proposed in SB 248:

“Insurance companies are the driving force behind Senate Bill 248 which would gut the very popular auto no‐fault insurance we enjoy here in Michigan. … [Yet] there is absolutely nothing wrong with the auto no‐fault insurance we have today.”

Significantly, Mr. Patterson’s letter is far from the first time he’s provided such a forceful defense of Michigan’s No Fault auto insurance system. In 2013, Mr. Patterson was generous enough to be interviewed by Michigan Auto Law on our auto No Fault insurance system.

Video clips of that interview are contained in the following Michigan Auto Law blog posts:

• Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson praises Michigan No Fault insurance for ‘quality of life’ it provides to auto accident victims (3/27/2013)
• Oakland County Exec. L. Brooks Patterson on how the insurance industry is keeping drivers in the dark on No Fault reform (4/2/2013)
• Oakland County Exec. L. Brooks Patterson: No Fault is good for Michigan jobs (4/4/2013)
• Oakland County Exec. L. Brooks Patterson: No guarantee of savings for drivers under No Fault reform (4/15/2013)
• The person who inspired L. Brooks Patterson to support No Fault (5/8/2013)