Legislator sponsors new state auto insurance bill

State Rep. Jewell Jones (D-Inkster), along with fellow members of the Michigan House of Representatives Democratic Caucus introduced a package of bills last week with bipartisan support to address concerns related to transparency and accountability with the state auto no-fault law and auto insurance system.

“Insurance companies are experiencing record profits while hard-working Michiganders are struggling with rising prices and reduced coverage,” Jones said. “We need an insurance system that works for us, not just insurance companies. My bill would tackle the practice of redlining by banning auto insurance companies from using ZIP codes to charge certain communities, usually those that are Black or brown, higher prices. It's time we fix this and get auto accident survivors the care they need.”

Jones sponsored House Bill House 6005 which would prohibit rate discrimination on the basis of any category protected under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (marital status, weight, sex, etc.), credit scores or other financial stress measures, and geographical location within Michigan and require insurance companies that have affiliate networks or the same parent company to offer consumers a quote that is the lowest they would get within the company or network.

Also introduced were House Bill 5996 which would address the issue of prohibiting insurers from denying payment if the treatment is “not usually associated” with accepted treatment. Sponsored by state Rep. Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo); House Bill 5997 which would place penalties on insurance companies that unreasonably deny claims. “Bad Faith Denial.” Sponsored by state Rep. Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor); House Bill 5998 which would fix the loophole where some court rulings have basically exempted all regulated and licensed businesses (like insurance companies) from the Michigan Consumer Protection Act; House Bill 5999 would require the Department of Insurance and Financial Services to post their reports on auto no-fault complaints, billing issues, and utilization review publicly on its website. The reports will include the number of cases per patient. Sponsored by state Rep. Kevin Coleman (D-Westland); House Bill 6000 would require auto insurers to get their rates approved by DIFS, with an 8 percent profit margin cap. Sponsored by state Rep. Rachel Hood (D-Grand Rapids); House Bill 6001 would require payments to be issued within 30 days when the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) is statutorily mandated to issue refund payments to consumers. Sponsored by state Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi); House Bill 6002 would prohibit insurance companies or the third-party companies that are associated with the insurance company from reviewing administrative appeals. Sponsored by state Rep. Padma Kuppa (D-Troy); House Bill 6003 would prohibit insurers from refusing to pay provider bills on the basis that the bill is not in the insurer's preferred format or on the insurer's preferred form. Sponsored by state Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) and House Bill 6004 would require the MCCA to disclose actuarial computation used in rate setting. Sponsored by state Rep. Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford.