GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Kent County drivers making a switch. After no-fault auto insurance reform was passed in 2019, the Insurance Alliance of Michigan has now estimated that nearly 100,000 drivers in the county have switched to different levels of personal injury protection (PIP) coverage.
"People [can] choose, they can still choose unlimited [PIP coverage]," IAM Executive Director Erin McDonough said. "They could choose $500,000, $250,000, $50,000, they can even opt out. And over time, we've seen people move into choosing different PIP policies that, again, best fit the needs of their family and their budget."
Another part of the reform included cost controls toward care providers for those now opting for different coverage levels.
"It is very important as we look to keep the costs of insurance low and to reduce the cost of insurance that we have reasonable cost controls just like in Medicare or Medicaid in your private health insurance," McDonough said.
But with litigation ongoing in the Michigan Supreme Court, those controls could soon change.
"In the wake of a Supreme Court decision, that's going to really set the groundwork and the parameters for what can and can't be done in terms of price controls around auto no-fault," McDonough said.
No matter what the court decides, McDonough encourages people, with new choices, to take time to look into all options available and choose the level of coverage that will work best for their family to be covered while saving the most money.
"We really encourage everybody to shop around to be thoughtful about what the needs of their family are; to understand the health insurance that they may already have as a family and then to just talk to their insurance professionals, their agents and others about questions that they have to make sure that they're making the choice that's best for them and their families," McDonough said.
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