Taking a stand for what's right

During this season of thanksgiving, Barry County Farm Bureau folks deserve special thanks.

On Nov. 15, the county's Farm Bureau executive board unanimously approved an amendment to Michigan's no-fault auto insurance law. Board members plan to present it to the state organization's voting delegates at their 102nd annual meeting this week in Grand Rapids.

"Farm Bureau supports the Michigan Legislature amending the No-Fault Act to ensure that any claimant receiving benefits as of June 30, 2020, continue to receive such care, or any future necessary care, at the same level and quality of care, under the same reimbursement rate therein in effect for said services on June 30, 2021," is how the proposed amendment reads.

What it means is that those people who were severely injured, and had been receiving benefits under the state's catastrophic auto injury insurance fund program, should continue to receive that level of benefits – and the quality of care – no matter what reforms are implemented, going forward.

These reforms have been cutting a swath through the state, closing adult foster care facilities as it reduced reimbursement rates for Medicare patients by 55 percent.

That change means companies don't receive full payment for care of patients who've been catastrophically injured in auto accidents. So, they can't afford to continue providing these services.

Before the reforms went into effect July 1, people who were injured in auto accidents had full coverage from insurance agencies. They received everything they needed for their care – from caregivers to wheelchairs to therapy.

One of at least 16,000 examples in Michigan is Troy Hughes, a Middleville native, who was critically injured in a motorcycle crash in 2007 that left him in need of 24/7 attention. He cannot walk or swallow and, although he can write, he cannot speak.

Ever since, Hughes has been reliant on funding from the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association to cover the cost of his health care. In June, that MCCA fund totaled $23 billion, its executive director told the Detroit Free Press.

That fund was intended to cover the cost of quality care for Hughes and others in similar straits because of the catastrophic injuries they suffered in traffic accidents. Like Hughes, they need a high level of care for as long as they live.

Hughes' story was highlighted in the Oct. 14 Banner as he prepared to move to a nursing home from the rehabilitation facility, which had to close because of the cuts in reimbursement rates.

In July, the state Legislature voted to create the $25 million Post-Acute Care Auto Injury Provider Relief Fund to address funding gaps resulting from the no-fault insurance reform; then Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed it into law.

It sounds like a good idea, but, wait, will $25 million cover the cost of quality care for 16,000 crash victims for their lifetimes? Not even close.

Then, last month, the MCCA board voted to issue refund checks to Michigan drivers out of its fund, which has a $5 billion surplus. Whitmer pushed for those refunds.

The way George Hubka sees it, there's a reason that MCCA fund exists – and it's not to give everyone a refund.

Hubka is a member of the Barry County Farm Bureau executive committee and, as far as he's concerned, the answer for how to use that fund is clear: "They paid the money. They were under the plan. They were made a promise. Now let's keep that promise, and go back and grandfather those folks.

"That's the fair, the religious, the righteous thing humanly that you can do."

Barry County Farm Bureau makes it clear that it supports the general principles of the no-fault law to allow people who are injured in auto accidents to receive economic compensation more quickly and equitably. And it supports legislation to improve no-fault insurance to reduce the cost to the consumer.

But a promise is a promise.