HOUSE BILL No. 5235

 

September 27, 2005, Introduced by Rep. Gosselin and referred to the Committee on Insurance.

 

     A bill to amend 1956 PA 218, entitled

 

"The insurance code of 1956,"

 

by amending section 3107 (MCL 500.3107), as amended by 1991 PA 191.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 3107. (1)  Except as provided in subsection (2), personal  

 

Personal protection insurance benefits are payable for the

 

following:

 

     (a) Allowable expenses consisting of all reasonable charges

 

incurred for reasonably necessary products, services, and

 

accommodations for an injured person's care, recovery, or

 

rehabilitation. Allowable expenses within personal protection

 

insurance coverage shall not include charges for a hospital room in

 

excess of a reasonable and customary charge for semiprivate


 

accommodations except if the injured person requires special or

 

intensive care, or for funeral and burial expenses in the amount

 

set forth in the policy which shall not be less than $1,750.00 or

 

more than $5,000.00. Transportation costs incurred by an injured

 

person in obtaining care, recovery, or rehabilitation under this

 

subdivision shall be reimbursed at the greater of 30 cents per mile

 

or the rate the insurer reimburses its own employees for mileage.

 

     (b)  Work  Except as provided in subsection (2), work loss

 

consisting of loss of income from work an injured person would have

 

performed during the first 3 years after the date of the accident

 

if he or she had not been injured. Work loss does not include any

 

loss after the date on which the injured person dies. Because the

 

benefits received from personal protection insurance for loss of

 

income are not taxable income, the benefits payable for such loss

 

of income shall be reduced 15% unless the claimant presents to the

 

insurer in support of his or her claim reasonable proof of a lower

 

value of the income tax advantage in his or her case, in which case

 

the lower value shall apply.  Beginning March 30, 1973  For the

 

period beginning October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005, the

 

benefits payable for work loss sustained in a single 30-day period

 

and the income earned by an injured person for work during the same

 

period together shall not exceed  $1,000.00  $4,239.00, which

 

maximum shall apply pro rata to any lesser period of work loss.

 

Beginning October 1,  1974  2005, the maximum shall be adjusted

 

annually to reflect changes in the cost of living under rules

 

prescribed by the commissioner but any change in the maximum shall

 

apply only to benefits arising out of accidents occurring


 

subsequent to the date of change in the maximum.

 

     (c) Expenses not exceeding $20.00 per day, reasonably incurred

 

in obtaining ordinary and necessary services in lieu of those that,

 

if he or she had not been injured, an injured person would have

 

performed during the first 3 years after the date of the accident,

 

not for income but for the benefit of himself or herself or of his

 

or her dependent.

 

     (2) A person who is 60 years of age or older and in the event

 

of an accidental bodily injury would not be eligible to receive

 

work loss benefits under subsection (1)(b) may waive coverage for

 

work loss benefits by signing a waiver on a form provided by the

 

insurer. An insurer shall offer a reduced premium rate to a person

 

who waives coverage under this subsection for work loss benefits.

 

Waiver of coverage for work loss benefits applies only to work loss

 

benefits payable to the person or persons who have signed the

 

waiver form.