“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:
HB 4244/ 4844/ 4846/ 5020/ 5144-5151
These so-called reform bills look good on the surface, but in reality they will allow lengthy and expensive lawsuits
regardless of whether they are based on merit, which will increase insurance rates, drive good-paying jobs out of state
and line the pockets of trial lawyers at the expense of Michigan consumers.
Michigan’s insurance code already provides substantial penalties for insurance companies that unfairly deny or delay
claims, which the state insurance commissioner already has the power to enforce. Of the more than one million insurance
claims filed last year, barely 1,500 complaints were filed with Michigan’s insurance regulatory arm. This means there was
a dispute in only 0.15 percent of cases, significantly less than 1 percent.
Republican lawmakers offered an amendment to allow courts to penalize lawyers who bring frivolous lawsuits, but the
amendment was shot down.
The insurance industry is one of the few sectors that is growing in Michigan, with more than 55,000 insurance-related
jobs in the state. We should be looking for ways to attract more of these jobs to our state, not needlessly attacking
the honesty and integrity of our friends and neighbors who work in this growing industry just because it plays well
politically.
I also take issue with the way Democrat lawmakers rammed this legislation through committee. Representatives of
the insurance industry were not allowed to rebut most of the witnesses, including one person brought in to testify about
horrific treatment by insurance companies who was later found to have served time in jail for committing insurance
fraud.
For these reasons I cannot support these bills at this time.”