By Tracy Samilton: Complete Post through this link…
Hundreds of people rallied at the Michigan Capitol on Tuesday to support bills that could restore access to care for severely injured car crash survivors.
The rally comes one day before the state Senate holds a hearing on the bills, SB 530 and SB 531.
State Senators Mary Cavanagh and Sarah Anthony, both Democrats, sponsored the bills, which would amend the state’s 2019 auto no-fault law. The law has resulted in thousands of people losing access to care deemed medically necessary, by setting such low fees for medical services, like home care and residential rehabilitation treatment, that many providers could not afford to continue providing the care.
Democratic state Representative Tyrone Carter said Detroiters were promised more affordable car insurance after the 2019 auto no-fault law passed. But that didn’t happen. He says his policy is $6,000 a year — twice that of a friend just a mile past the city limits.
And he said the law’s supporters also said no crash survivors would lose care. That didn’t happen either.
“Crash victims have been kicked out of their homes,” he told rally attendees. “They’ve been dropped off at nursing homes and emergency rooms. They’ve had their dignity ripped away because of something that we did!”
Also appearing at the rally: Red Wings hockey legend Vladimir Konstantinov, who suffered catastrophic injuries in a car crash in 1997, just days after the team won the Stanley Cup.
