On Thursday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bill 1, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, to reform Michigan's auto insurance system to guarantee lower rates for every Michigan driver, protect insurance coverage options, and strengthen consumer protections.
"By signing this legislation, we are providing relief to millions of drivers across the state and guaranteeing a better auto insurance system for everyone," Whitmer said. "This historic deal shows that, when we put party aside, we can find common ground on our state's toughest issues to provide realistic and affordable coverage options for drivers across Michigan."
Senate Bill 1, negotiated by Whitmer with legislative leaders, intends to save drivers money by:
- Guaranteeing lower rates for drivers for eight years.
- Protecting people's choice to pick their own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) options with coinciding PIP rate reductions, offering unlimited coverage (10% PIP reduction), $500K coverage (20% PIP reduction), $250K coverage (35% PIP reduction), $50K coverage for Medicaid eligible recipients (45% PIP reduction), or a complete opt out for seniors or anyone with sufficient private insurance (100% PIP reduction).
- Increasing consumer protections by banning companies from using non-driving factors, such as ZIP code, FICO score, gender, marital status, occupation, education attainment, and homeownership, to set rates.
- Setting fee schedules for hospitals and providers to prevent overcharging for auto-related injuries.
"I am proud to have worked alongside Senate Majority Leader Shirkey, Senate Democratic Leader Ananich, Speaker of the House Chatfield, House Democratic Leader Greig, and all members of the legislature to solve a problem that has been hurting Michigan families for far too long," Whitmer noted. "We still have more important work ahead of us, and I have no doubt that we can seize on this momentum to pass a strong, bipartisan budget that fixes the damn roads."
Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Senator Aric Nesbitt (SD-26), will be filed next week with the Office of the Great Seal and take effect at that time.
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