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County Leaders Object To GOP Plan To Limit Payouts On Michigan's No-Fault Auto Insurance

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) Representatives from Oakland, Wayne and Macomb Counties are taking aim at Republican-proposed reforms to no fault auto insurance that would limit catastrophic claims and other benefits.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the plan would curtail Michigan's unlimited lifetime benefits for people catastrophically injured in car crashes and replace it with a $10-million cap. It also would require that insurance companies guarantee 10 percent savings on auto insurance premiums for the first two years.

County leaders and state representatives are calling on the catastrophic claims authority to open their books in order to examine costs. Specifically, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano says the state needs to examine skyrocketing insurance rates for Detroit's drivers.

But this particular legislation has nothing to do with reducing Detroit's rates.

"We want real reform that really helps people be able to get insurance," Ficano said, during a public event.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel told WWJ's Ron Dewey the fact Lansing is suddenly taking up auto insurance limits means priorities are skewed.

"There's maybe some tweaking that could be done or better things that could be done with this legislation so that it's agreeable to all, but more importantly -- where's the attention given to the reforms on dealing with funding for roads? That is my main concern right now," Hackel said.

According to the Free Press, House Republicans tried to pass this particular change last year but were thwarted after committee hearings "attracted dozens of people opposed to the changes who had been critically injured in car accidents and benefited from the system."

"The opposition also had a strong voice in Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who even before he was critically injured in an accident in August 2012 was against changes to the state's insurance system."

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