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Where’s My $400 Refund?
I keep hearing this type of question. Many wondering, when will our refund checks come? Why hasn’t my insurance sent them yet? With little to no understanding of where they’re coming from or the magnitude of the lives lost because of it. The questions I can answer are, why hasn’t this auto no-fault reform lowered my car insurance? Why do you care? Your injury wasn’t from an auto accident. Lend me your ears, and I’ll explain.
When my injury happened in 2010, I was in the hospital for three and a half months. I was given hands-on training, all about my new state of life. We learned everything we needed to know about my body and its functionality now that I wasn’t capable of the voluntary and involuntary movement humans require. Along with all of the technological advances available at the time, that would allow me to work, and be involved in personal and societal life, independently. I learned about ventilators, wheelchairs, tracheas, bowel, bladder, stretching, standing, neurological implications, etc. All while teams of volunteers from the church, high school, and neighboring communities were working day and night, renovating our house so that I could come home to a clean environment. The total capacity of paralysis physically, mentally, emotionally, and supportively. That hospital stay cost a million dollars.
What would you be willing to do if your loved one, spouse, or child suffered a catastrophic injury? Would you sell your home, cars, and all possible assets for them to have an opportunity for life? For 42 years, Michigan auto accidents had backup protection from families having to do those things. The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, MCCA, covered any catastrophic injury from an auto accident. “In Michigan, the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) portion of a no-fault auto insurance policy will pay for all reasonably necessary medical expenses with no maximum limits.” The majority of claims were from individuals with extreme injuries such as spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI), “(MCCA) reimburses no-fault auto insurers for amounts paid in excess of $580,000 per claim.” Meaning MCCA would’ve kicked in after half of a hospital stay such as mine.
MCCA started collecting funds in 1979 to spread “the cost of providing these unique benefits across all Michigan auto insurers.” In 1979 the cost per insurer was $3, and in 2019 after accounting for inflation and the estimated 1,000 new claims each year, the cost per insurer was $220. The fund was estimated to have 26 billion dollars in it, and the governor has come out and said that it's 5 billion dollars overfunded. Those funds were in place to take care of the 17,751 active individuals, families, and loved ones that were being cared for.
To put it into perspective, estimating $35 an hour to my nursing agency, $35 x 24 x 365, and my nursing care alone is $306,600 every year, along with chair maintenance, transportation maintenance, and the 50k we raise to supplement our nurses because they don’t receive paid time off, 401k, or many other benefits. If I were to lose my care and wanted to continue living independently, it would cost me upwards of $350,000 a year. If you’re wondering why after graduating college, I haven’t gone into the workforce, this is mainly why.
So, what happened to the MCCA? As of July 2, 2021, the MCCA reimbursement rate was reduced by 45% for all claims that don't have insurance codes. Including nursing care. So if an individual's nurses were making $30 an hour, they were immediately lowered to $16.50 an hour. How many companies or industries do you know of that could survive a 45% pay cut? Well it’s even worse than that. A large majority of the individuals, families, and companies haven’t been receiving any reimbursements, at any rate, for anything! Since July 2, 2021. That's been the situation for 17,751 individuals who are fighting every day not to have to give up their livelihood and go to a nursing facility. Sixty-eight nursing agencies have had to close their doors. Groundbreaking industries and technology, like my Wearable Therapy, only exist in the first place because they could count on the MCCA reimbursement. All of which would offset the losses they would take on cases like mine, who weren't auto-related injuries. Giving me access to things I would never have been privy to.
The result is that thousands of families, and one thousand more each year, will have to suffer the same fate and reality I have these last 12 years, and your insurance rates will not lower. According to the MCCA, the insurance companies are still on the hook for the first $600,000 after a catastrophic injury. Insurance companies will also have to protect each insurer from the inevitable lawsuits after a catastrophic injury. The only opportunity to receive compensation after a catastrophic accident is by suing one another’s insurance, just as other states do. The only difference in your insurance premium will be the yearly assessment I mentioned which has gone from $220 to $89.
Meanwhile, individuals with similar disabilities to mine are dying. Infections, pressure sores, and breathing complications are all expected and life-threatening when you aren't receiving the care you need. Some of them are individuals that worked, owned homes, started families, and contributed to society. Now they're unemployed, homeless, and sentenced to death in a nursing facility where your nurse and aids are running between you and thirty other patients. It's heartbreaking and devastatingly wrong. Then as a distraction from the horrific things happening to this community, they're taking a large chunk of the catastrophic fund, splitting it up into $400 increments, and sending a check for every insured vehicle as of October 2021. Money that was meant to care for these families for the rest of their lives, and easily could have.
All I know to do right now is give freely what I've received freely. I'm here asking that each of you do the same. If you and your family need it, by all means, please use the money you receive. If you don't need it, and you feel it in your heart to act, we have a place in our donations where you can give back your $400 per-vehicle checks. All money raised by this Act & Give Back Progam will be used solely to help those 17,751 individuals and families that have been affected by the change. If you, or anyone you know, is suffering from this change we have a calendar link, where you can schedule a time to speak with me about how we've navigated this world without auto no-fault. Insurance, trusts, nonprofits, technology, physical therapy, nursing ads, fundraising, everything that I'm able to share with others, I will continue to give. Please consider giving to this cause. I love you all and thank you for reading.