MBIPC Applauds Legislative Package that Would Establish a Fair Fee Schedule for Providers and End Michigan’s Crisis in Care
MBIPC Executive Director Judd: Legislature must move bills with swiftness and urgency
BRIGHTON, Mich.—(Sept. 26, 2023)—The Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council (MBIPC) today applauded a bipartisan legislative package aimed at ending Michigan’s years-long crisis in care that has taken devastating tolls on the physical health and overall well-being of victims of catastrophic auto accidents and their families — a crisis that has also forced the closure of small businesses unable to stay open due to the effects auto insurance reform.
“For over two years, crash survivors, their family members and support systems, providers of essential rehabilitation services and care, and disability advocates at the state and federal levels have pleaded for a narrow fix to the auto no-fault reform law so that crash victims have access to the care they need,” said MBIPC Executive Director Tom Judd. “This solution is well overdue, but it is never too late to save lives and restore the promise of recovery and care drivers are promised.”
Senate Bills 530 and 531, introduced by State Sen. Mary Cavanagh and State Sen. Sarah Anthony, will correct critical flaws stemming from auto insurance changes signed into law in 2019. The bills will create a reasonable and sustainable fee schedule that must be honored by insurance companies when paying post-acute rehabilitative care providers. Post-acute providers offer highly specialized care to patients once they have left a hospital setting.
The 2019 reform bill included a 45% cut in reimbursement rates for catastrophic care and a 56-hour per-week cap on attendant care provided by family members. These unjust and arbitrary provisions have decimated the post-acute care industry, leading to more than 7,000 patient discharges, the loss of more than 4,000 health care jobs, and the closure of 24 businesses as of April 2022, according to an independent study conducted by the nonprofit health institute MPHI.
While the auto insurance industry continues to defend the draconian fee cap system and its devastating impact on crash survivors, offering no acknowledgement of the calamity—even in the face of objective data, media spotlights on personal suffering, and documented deaths—Judd noted that MBIPC and its coalition partners have consistently come to the table to offer solutions.
“We now urge the Legislature to move this solution forward swiftly. There are no more excuses for further delays,” he said. “The Governor has repeatedly made public comments expressing a desire to have a solution on her desk. This Legislature has the opportunity now to deliver this solution and end the crisis in care. Further delays and continued suffering are unnecessary. We appreciate the leadership from the sponsors of SB 530 and 531, and we now call on other leaders throughout our Legislature to step up and end this sad chapter in Michigan’s history.”
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Members of the Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council are committed to providing high quality, ethical rehabilitation services, with the mission of achieving the best outcomes for patients. As a trade association established in 1987 and based in Brighton, Michigan, MBIPC offers resource-sharing, information exchange, professional development and education, advocacy for brain injury standards of care and legislation protecting Michigan families, and the promotion of ethical conduct. For more information, go to mbipc.org https://www.mbipc.org, and connect with MBIPC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.