Peeling a very expensive onion-----Michigan Supreme Court must hear no-fault FOIA case

Michigan Supreme Court must hear no-fault FOIA case - Politics Blog - The Detroit News:
"Several states have no-fault auto insurance, by which insurers pay the medical bills of people injured in auto accidents regardless of whose fault the accident is.
Michigan is the only state in the nation in which this reimbursement is unlimited.

This has led in part to Michigan’s highest-in-the-nation auto insurance rates. Adding fiscal insult to bodily injury is that victims of auto accidents in no-fault states use more medical services and pay higher prices for the same services used by other patients.

The real problem, however, is the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA.) This legislatively-created body is made up of the state’s automobile insurance companies and manages the state’s catastrophic claims fund. The MCCA figures in order to keep the no-fault pool adequately funded, Michigan auto owners must pay an extra $186 for their auto insurance, per vehicle, per year. In this manner, the MCCA has collected a hefty $15 billion in assets for the state’s catastrophic claims fund. 

The MCCA denied a Freedom of Information Act request for its secret formula filed by the Coalition Protecting Auto No-Fault (C-PAN) and the Brain Injury Association of Michigan (BIAMI.) Both groups are clearly on the side of keeping no-fault insurance intact, yet they cite a study which shows Michigan auto owners may be paying 15 percent more than we have to to keep the MCCA properly funded. They may be right. In 2012, for example, the MCCA reportedly took in $69 million more than it paid out.