MACKINAC ISLAND, MI (MPRN)-- A new plan by state lawmakers to bring down Michigan’s expensive auto insurance rates is in the works.
A rollout of the plan is expected as soon as Tuesday.
State House Speaker Tom Leonard dropped some hints as to what might be in the proposal this past weekend. He was a on a panel at a Republican Party conference on Mackinac Island.
He said giving consumers the option to choose how much coverage they can afford, and limiting what hospitals can charge for treating accident victims are both important.
“You can see why the costs are so high. So, more choice, and we’ve got to get some cost containment,” he says.
Leonard says it’s also important to guarantee consumers will see rate relief.
He’s been working with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on the plan. Detroit has some of the highest car insurance rates in the nation.
But Duggan says it’s not just a Detroit problem.
“In Michigan right now, you either have the most-expensive car insurance in America or you’re driving illegally. That’s a fundamental civil rights issue. That’s what we’re going after,” he says.
Duggan says when people can’t drive, they can’t get to work.
Other efforts to lower the cost of car insurance have deadlocked over mandating rate rollbacks and repealing Michigan’s unlimited medical benefits for accident victims.