Introduction
The purpose of this research is to identify the key issues with the current No-Fault automobile insurance system in Michigan and to discuss the three components of the proposed reform and their effect on the no-fault program. This system, which mandates unlimited lifetime coverage for all automobile accidents, is the most expensive in the United States. The three phases of the proposed reform are to set a limit to lifetime coverage, establish cost controls for medical expenses, and establish a state authority to combat insurance fraud. The goal of this reform is to establish a stable insurance system in Michigan that will be affordable to all and, in effect, reduce the number of uninsured motorists.
Michigan No-Fault Insurance Program
The no-fault automobile insurance program in Michigan is a unique system, making it an interesting program to analyze. Michigan is the only state in the United States to require lifetime medical benefits for all injuries induced by automobile accidents. If you have an automobile accident, no-fault insurance pays for your medical expenses, wage loss benefits, replacement services, and the damage you do to other people’s property, regardless of who is responsible for the accident. The basic no-fault policy you must buy if you are a resident of the state of Michigan and own a vehicle consists of three parts: personal injury protection, property protection, and residual liability insurance. (1)
PIP, PPI, & RLI
When a Michigan resident is injured in an automobile-related accident, the personal injury protection (PIP) part of the insurance will cover the medical costs. The amount that is provided by the PIP is not limited by the insurance. However, this is the largest reason for the high cost...
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...igan. Personal Injury Protection: An inside Look at What Your Michigan Auto Insurance Premium Pays For. Lansing: Insurance Institute of Michigan, 2013. Print.
5. Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company. “What is Driving Up the Cost of Auto Insurance?”. Lansing: Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance, 2013.
6. Michigan. House Fiscal Agency. Legislative. A Summary of House Bill 4612 (Substitute H-1) As Reported From House Committee. Legislative Analyst: Chris Couch. Fiscal Analysts: Paul Holland, Steve Stauff. Lansing: No-Fault Auto Insurance Amendments, 2013. Print. Legislative Analysis.
7. Conarton, Lori. "Poll: Michigan Residents Support Statewide Insurance Fraud Fighting Authority." Michigan Insurance Fraud Awareness Coalition (10 Sept. 2012): Print.
8. Cornack, John. "Protecting Michigan Auto No-Fault Insurance." Michigan Medicine March/April 112.2 (2013): 8-10. Web.
One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.
Illinois. Mercherle didn’t think it was fair that families and other farmers that lived in rural communities paid the same auto insurance rates as those that lived in Chicago. He wanted to establish an “honest insurance company that provided rates related to the risk” (State Farm, About Us). In 1922, after the company opened their doors, a new claim was made which established State Farm’s promise “to be there when the unexpected happens” (State Farm, About Us).
High traffic fees and fines quite often cause financial difficulties for the lower class. Transportation has become a necessity over the past one hundred years. Unfortunately with the constant improvements in vehicle technologies the cost of owning and maintaining a vehicle has constantly increased. Going hand in hand with these vehicle improvements the California Vehicle Code (CVC) has become extensive, covering every possible driving mistake with a traffic infraction. Following these changes the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has constantly grown to cover the needs of the 27 million vehicles (DMV update 1998, 3) owned in the state with high vehicle registration fees and traffic fines.
Medical malpractice has become a controversial social issue. From a doctor’s standpoint, decisions and preventative actions can alter the medical malpractice lawsuits filed against them. In order to protect their career and professional life medical malpractice insurance is available. Medical professional liability insurance, sometimes known as medical malpractice insurance, is one type of professional liability insurance. “Professional liability refers to liability that arises from a failure to use due care and the standard of care expected from a person in a particular profession, in this case a doctor, dentist, nurse, hospital or other health-related organization” (Brandenburg, 2014).
It is unfortunate that accidents that result in injuries are a part of life. Further more it is also unfortunate that often the party responsible for said accident do not feel compelled to offer compensation to the party affected. However in spite of this, there is still hope for the injured party thanks to personal injury lawyers. They are tasked with representing their clients who suffered from these events while making sure that their clients receive the compensation that they deserve. Ultimately personal injury lawyers play a big role with regards to safety initiatives by helping those injured, which is something that we all should aspire to do.
The current state of affairs in the development of health policy in the United States is that it is constantly in flux and its implementation is disorganized and inefficient. As was the case with the recently passed Affordable Care Act legislation, political and lobbying interests often intersect in a manner that makes meaningful, most appropriate changes unlikely. The ACA kept in place the fractured nature of American health care and insurance, and appears to have benefited insurance companies by increasing enrollments rather than making the care provided better on a large scale. The majority of the plans on the created exchanges, up to 87%, are funded by federal subsidies (Blumenthal, Abrams, & Nuzum, 2015). These plans must cover individuals regardless of pre-existing conditions. The burden of the cost of insurance shifted to tax-payers and the young/healthy who are now overly burdened with mandatory coverage that they may or may not need in
According to the Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, "automobile crashes are the leading cause of death for those aged 3 to 33, with 43,005 (118 per day) Americans killed in 2002 alone" (Clayton, Helms, Simpson, 2006). Worldwide, vehicle accidents consist of 1.2 millions deaths per year, "behind only childhood infections and AIDS as cause of death amount people aged 5 to 30 years old" (Clayton., 2006). The annual cost of road accidents is estimated about $518 billion"(Factor, Yair, Mahalel, 2013). The fact alone of being in a moving, heavy vehicle is a danger in itself but individuals that do not wear their seat belts, talk on the phone, text, and do other distracting behavior also put themselves in even more harmful situations.
Secondly, health insurance policies are inconsistent, expensive, cumbersome, hard to discern, full of fine print and contain many loopholes. Most Canadians face a huge tax burden, rising cost of living and will not be able to pay for these additional medical expenses out of the pocket. To offload risk, most indiv...
Health insurance is currently an important issue in the United States. Everyday more and more Americans become uninsured due to job loss and an increase in premiums. These Americans add to the ever growing population of 45.7 million people who are currently uninsured (Bialik). Moreover only 27% of those uninsured are under the age of 65 (NCHC). This is staggering considering most of those who are uninsured have, or soon will, suffer from some sort of illness or injury. As a result they will not be able to afford proper treatment. Insurance premiums can range in cost from fifty dollars per month, to fifteen hundred dollars per month (Kreidler). An individual’s premium is determined by factors they choose as well as other factors looked at by their provider. The cost of health insurance in America varies depending on the controllable factors, like particular insurance policies, and uncontrollable factors, like age.
There are several issues concerning the uninsured and underinsured patient population in America. There are many areas of concern the congressional efforts to increase the availability of health insurance, the public image of the insurance industry illustrated by the movie "John Q", the lack of good management tools, and creating health insurance coverage for all low income Americans. Since the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 43 million from 37 million in the flourishing 1990s and could shoot up even more severely if the economy continues to decrease and health care premiums keep increasing (Insurance No Simple Fix, 2001).
The leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers is motor vehicle accidents. More than 5,000 of our teens die each year in crashes. For the purpose of this topic, “teenagers” encompasses ages ranging from 15- to 20-year-olds. I am proposing legislation to address this issue.
In his political journal of law, Gregory Odegaard states that “an increased percentage of insured drivers not only reduces insurance costs for all motorists, but also promotes public safety because fewer drivers will flee the scene of accidents” (A Yes or No Answer: A Plea to End the Oversimplification of the Debate on Licensing Aliens).... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Barteldes, Ernest.
Cost is also determined by your age, gender, where you live, how many miles on the car, and what type it is. For example if an 18 guy and 34 woman buy their insurance in NJ, him a 98 Toyota Celica with 45,000 miles, her a new BMW 530I, and both living in Ridgewood. The guy would pay more for his insurance because he’s more prone to have an accident with his sports car and he has less experience behind the wheel then she does.
“47 million U.S. residents have no health insurance, and the numbers keep growing. America’s workers struggle to pay higher premiums, deductibles and co-payments. Working families are experiencing increases in the costs of health insurance, more out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits and skyrocketing prices for prescriptions, forcing many to delay getting needed medical care or words“(2012). The video Sick Around America introduced many issues with the United States health care system. The biggest problems in the United States is medical underwriting, if you lose your job that provides health insurance, you lose the health insurance.
Almost every 90 seconds a person is injured in a drunk driving crash. Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is an issue that has an affect many people across our nation. Most people do not realize the affects alcohol and drugs can have on the body and mind while driving. Providing the knowledge of what a DUI is and what the specifics about it indicate about the negatives of drugs and alcohol among drivers, directly relates to New Mexico and the laws. Knowing the damage DUIs have on New Mexico is why it is necessary to have laws with consequences and penalties. An Increase or decrease of DUIs in the year 2006(the last updated count of DUI cases) shows whether or not the current laws work and are more or less followed. The effectiveness of the DUI laws in New Mexico display whether there are statistics to deliver improvement or if rates have gotten worse and whether or not the state of New Mexico needs new laws. New Mexico’s population has increasingly large numbers of DUI compared to other states and people deserve the right to know if DUI Laws in the state of New Mexico work or if they should be changed to suit the needs of New Mexicans.