Michigan’s auto no-fault reform bill went into effect last July and the consequences are quickly being felt among accident victims. After the latest statutory reforms from the revised law introduced a new medical fee schedule, the causal effect has been a reduction of how much insurance companies are required to reimburse medical providers for certain services.

Meanwhile, advocates for survivors of catastrophic auto crashes have been saying for months that the changes would cut off their access to medical services they need to survive.

Now, slightly more than two months after the updated medical fee schedules have gone into effect, many survivors have been speaking out about how they are, in many cases, struggling to access even minimal care.

“I was struck by a pickup truck backing out of a driveway… the hitch went through my right-lower extremity, and… severely broke the leg in multiple places,” Paul Becker told a Michigan Fox TV affiliate, who was seriously injured in a July 2018 crash. “I think I’ve had nine surgeries in total, and still trying to recover from the mobility aspect.”

Fox reported Becker hadn’t had any major issues getting insurance to cover the medical services he’s needed during his recovery, that is until this past July.

“Eight o’clock in the evening, they left a message stating that, at that time, anything … from now on will no longer be covered, and it was just out of the blue, boom, you’re no longer covered for anything,” Becker explained.

“I feel like with this last six weeks without any physical therapy, I’ve literally gone backwards.”

Under the new law, any medical service not already covered under federal Medicare law, which includes in-home caregivers and transportation to medical services, will now only be reimbursed by insurance companies at 55 percent of what they were back in 2019. The law also caps the number of hours family members can provide care to just 56 hours a week, according to legal analysis.

Tom Judd, president of the Michigan Brain Injury Providers Council, said in a statement about the legal revisions, “There’s been a lot of delays, and denials, and payments on a whole, and not just the providers that we’ve been talking about for the past few months, in terms of residential and attendant care providers, but outpatient therapists are getting denied or slashed in reimbursement.”

Judd added the changes have thrown Michigan’s post-acute medical care industry into turmoil.

“Hurdles that they did not have to jump through before July 1, they’re having to jump through now, and they’re not getting any payment…. and so, the crisis is kind of expanding to places that we didn’t really think that they would be going.”

According to the Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council, more than 700 patients have already lost access to medical care, since the changes took effect in July.

At least 41 Michigan-based care companies have had to either close their doors completely or discharge patients receiving benefits via no-fault auto insurance. The MBIPC says this has already put at least 1,500 healthcare workers out of a job.

Under the new law, insurance companies still have to provide lifetime medical coverage for those who had or have unlimited personal injury protection (PIP) policies. But advocates say the changes are squeezing qualified medical professionals out of Michigan’s post-acute care industry, making quality providers scarce.

If you have been hurt in an auto accident and are concerned your coverage will not provide adequate protection for your medical needs, contact the law office of Turner and Turner for a free consultation to ensure your rights are adequately protected.

Writing down the details after an accident is more accurate than relying on your memory. After any kind of accident that could prompt you to file a personal injury claim, it’s crucial to do everything you can to protect your right to fair compensation for your losses.

One of the best first steps you can take is to write down everything you can remember about your accident, including details of your injuries and their effects on your daily life.

These notes can be useful later, when you put together a demand letter for the insurance company, or when you decide to file a personal injury lawsuit. Having notes to remind you of the details of what happened, and what you went through, is more reliable than counting on your memory.

Get into the habit of taking notes on anything you think might possibly affect your case, and carry it through the entire personal injury claim process. Whenever you remember something you had not thought of before — write it down — and put it with your other notes.

Here are some specific things about which you should make notes:

Describe How the Accident Happened

As soon as your head is clear, jot down everything you can remember about how the accident happened, beginning with what you were doing and where you were going, the people you were with, the time, and the weather.

Include every detail of what you saw and heard and felt—twists, blows, and shocks to your body immediately before, during, and right after the accident. Also include anything you remember hearing anyone—a person involved in the accident or a witness—say about the accident.

Describe Your Injuries and Their Effects on You

In the first days following your accident, make daily notes of all pains and discomfort your injuries cause. You may suffer pain, discomfort, anxiety, loss of sleep, or other problems that are not as visible or serious as another injury, but for which you should demand additional compensation.

If you don’t make a specific note of injuries immediately, you may not remember exactly what to include in your demand for settlement weeks or months later. Also, taking notes will make it easier for you later to describe to an insurance company how much and what kind of pain and discomfort you were in.

In addition, writing down your different injuries may help your doctor diagnose you. For example, a relatively small bump on the head or crick in the neck may not seem worth mentioning, but it might help both the doctor and the insurance adjuster understand why your bad back pain developed several weeks after the accident.

Also, by telling the doctor or other medical provider about all of your injuries, those injuries become part of your medical records, which will provide evidence later that such injuries were caused by the accident.

Describe Your Economic Losses and Other Effects of the Accident

You may be entitled to compensation for economic loss, missed special events, as well as for pain and suffering, but you will need good documentation. Begin making notes immediately after the accident about anything you have lost because of the accident and your injuries: work hours, job opportunities, meetings, classes, events, family or social gatherings, vacation, or anything else which would have benefited you or which you would have enjoyed but been unable to do because of the accident.

Summarize Conversations with Insurers, Witnesses, and Others

Make written notes of the date, time, people involved, and content of every conversation you have about your accident or your claim. In-person or telephone conversations worth noting may include those with any witness, adjuster, or other insurance representatives, or with medical personnel.

If you have been in an accident, and need help determining whether you may have a claim, contact the attorneys at Turner and Turner; with more than 30 years of experience advocating for the rights of accident victims, our attorneys will help you receive the compensation you deserve.

Call for a free consultation today at (248) 355-1727.

As parents, we have two tasks:  to enable our teens to be competent drivers and to ensure their safety, the safety of their passengers and the safety of other drivers they encounter.

The three leading causes of accidents involving teenage drivers are:

• Inexperience
• Teen passengers in the vehicle
• Nighttime driving

In Michigan, the graduated licensing system restricts passengers and nighttime driving for a time and requires a certain number of hours of driving to be logged.

The only cure for inexperienced driving is…experience!  Allow your teen ample opportunities to drive, supervised by you or another trusted adult.  When you are running errands, ask your teen to drive you.  Take a road trip with your teen, making them enter and exit the highway.  Be sure your teen drives at night, at dusk and at sunset.  Take them to drive when it’s raining and snowing in places that are safe for them to experience the difference in the way that cars function under these conditions.   It may not be relaxing, but they really need the experience.

Make a resolution to get through the holidays drinking LESS.  (Obviously, if you are problem drinker, you need to get through the holidays completely alcohol-free.)

Easier said than done?  Not true!  Consider these suggestions.  

1. Sit next to the sober people!  Just as you can lose weight if you eat what the skinny people do, you will drink less if you are hanging out with the non-drinking party-goers.  This does not limit you to pregnant women and the kids; plenty of people don’t drink or are even the designated driver for the evening.  And they are looking for you, the person who isn’t drinking!
2. Volunteer to be the designated driver.  When you are the designated driver (and you announce it loudly at the beginning of the party), there is no social pressure to drink and you have the responsibility to be completely sober.  When you know you are driving family and friends home and their safety depends on your behavior, that tempting drink seems pretty unimportant.
3.  Limit your alcohol to just the mealtime.  Enjoy your glass or wine, beer or cocktail, but limit it to while you are sitting at the table.
4. Host the party so that you can control the amount and what type of alcohol is served.  If scotch is your weakness, you, the host, can decide not to buy the scotch!
5. Visualize the behavior you desire.  John McGrail, Ph.D., author of The Synthesis Effect, says, “Imagine yourself not going beyond your appropriate limit and walking out of the event feeling great, with a big smile on your face.  Having pictured the desired behavior, your inner computer will choose that reality, making it much easier to drink less or not at all.”
6. Involve your partner in your decision to cut back drinking.
7. If you are attending a traditionally drinking-heavy event, limit your time there or limit how much you will drink before you leave.  Then, immediately leave when you have hit either your time limit or your drink limit.
8. Be aware of mood fluctuation.  Avoid being tempted by drink when facing depression or anxiety.
9. Keep water or a non-alcoholic drink with you all night.  Sip this drink regularly, slowing down your intake of alcohol.

And, of course, if despite all precaustions, you are in an accident caused by weather, another driver or yourself, feel free to give us a call.  Advice is free and we’d love to help.

According to new findings from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, only 46% of parents know that children between the ages of 4 and 6 years old, weighing between 40 and 60 pounds, should travel in a booster seat.  In fact, “seat belt syndrome” is particularly dangerous for children aged 4 to 8 who sit in the car with a seat belt only.  The seat belt does not hit children in this age range in the proper position, potentially causing hip and abdominal contusions, abdominal injuries, pelvic fractures and spinal injuries.

Some startling and devastating statistics that all parents should be aware of:

• Forty-six percent of fatally injured children younger than age five were completely unrestrained during motor vehicle crashes.
• Ninety seven percent of parents with children up to 3 years of age reported the use of a restraint system compared with only 42 percent of parents with children aged 4 to 6 years.
• Even when safety restraints are used, up to 99 percent of children in certain age groups are not using the recommended restraints.
• Booster seats minimize abdominal injuries that have been associated with the use of seat belts alone in the 4 to 7-year age group.
• Forward-facing car seats reduced serious injury and hospitalization for children aged 1 to 4 years old by 78 to 79 percent compared to seat belts alone.
• The back seat is the right place for children. In the presence of dual airbags, children younger than 10 years of age who were involved in a frontal collision were 34 percent more likely to be killed in the front seat.

Findings and Recommendations

• Rear-facing child seats should be used for children at least until 2 years of age and at least 20 pounds. These seats can be used beyond these guidelines if the child fits comfortably in the seat.
• Forward-facing child seats should be used for children through 4, or until the child weighs more than 40 pounds. They can be used beyond this time if the child still fits comfortably.
• Booster child seats should be used for children aged 5 to 8, or for children weighing 40 to 60 pounds. These can reduce or eliminate injuries from seat belt position in case of a collision.
• Children should always ride in the back seat, especially when dual air bags are present.

Source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons