Attendant Care Benefits and New Michigan No-Fault Changes

Posted on by infoML

Attendant Care Benefits and New Michigan No-Fault Changes

July 1 is quickly approaching, and the concerns about No-Fault law changes continue to rise. Under the new change in the law, attendant care facilities, home health, and rehabilitation care facilities are to reduce their fees by 45%, which could cause many to close their doors. This leaves the population of Michigan with catastrophic injuries at a major risk.  These providers would likely be unable to provide adequate services with reduced rates. Additionally, the reduction in benefits is retroactively being applied to already existing claimants, which is likely unconstitutional. 

In addition to the fee reduction, there is a 56 hour per week cap on family or friend provided attendant care put into effect, which comes out to 8 hours per day of care. This means No-Fault insurance companies will only be required to pay for 56 hours per week, instead of the unlimited hours they were required to pay for prior to the change. A person who is injured is likely to need round-the-clock care, and now the person providing that will only be paid for 8 hours of their time per day. Notably, an attorney may be able to negotiate with the No-Fault insurance company to reach an agreement that they will continue to pay for the family-provided care that would exceed the 56 hour limit, due to the fact that it would be significantly less expensive for the insurance company to pay the family member vs. 24/7 commercial attendant care.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has urged Michigan’s legislative leaders to make changes to the law before the end of June to prevent the impending issues that will occur from these changes. However, it appears that the Michigan legislature is in no hurry to fix these laws as to protect the catastrophically injured, and instead are waiting to see what happens regarding the fee schedule changes. Some lawmakers have shown concern regarding the new changes, and have expressed willingness to amend the law. Use our resources below to contact your lawmakers and urge them to make these changes before July 1. 

 

Resources: