• GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Leonard wants drivers to be able to ‘opt-out’ of Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance law
  • Motorists who don’t have unlimited medical coverage could sue at-fault driver to pay bills under his plan
  • The plan was met with mixed reaction at a DeWitt diner roundtable

DEWITT — Michigan would partially end its no-fault auto insurance system under a plan proposed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Leonard that aims to drive down high premiums. 

Under the proposal Leonard outlined Monday, motorists who choose not to purchase unlimited personal injury protection as part of their policy would be able to sue at-fault drivers for medical bills if they are injured. 

Leonard said that would effectively allow motorists to “opt out” of the state’s current no-fault system, in which an individual’s auto insurance is always the first to bear medical costs in an accident. 

Speaking with residents during a roundtable event at a DeWitt Township diner, Leonard said auto insurance is the third-most prominent issue he hears on the campaign trail, after affordability and health care.

“I don’t think there’s any way that these other candidates running for office are not hearing about the cost of auto insurance,” Leonard said, noting he’s the only candidate to propose changes to Michigan’s complex auto insurance law.

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Leonard has cast himself as a policy-forward candidate with detailed plans for reform in state government, but he has struggled to gain traction in the crowded GOP primary where millions have already been spent in advertising.

Other candidates include US Rep. John James and businessman Perry Johnson, who have led early polling, along with state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, former Attorney General Mike Cox and pastor Ralph Rebandt.

In the seven years since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican legislative leaders enacted major reforms to Michigan’s auto insurance law, the state’s auto insurance rates have remained stubbornly high, even as close to 30% of motorists opt to no longer have unlimited medical coverage from their insurance in the event of a catastrophic injury.

Michigan had required unlimited personal injury protection for all motorists. The 2019 reform allowed people to cap the amount their policies would pay, and also slashed the amounts some medical providers could be reimbursed for their care of the catastrophically injured. That remained a major point of contention, and some of the cuts were later limited by a court ruling. 

In a policy outline, Leonard’s campaign said his plan would give Michigan drivers “a choice between full or limited legal coverage.” He also proposed reforms he said could rein in “excessive lawsuits,” including a cap on “non-economic damages to curb nuclear verdicts.” 

Leonard’s proposal would also mandate insurers pay medical expenses from auto accidents within 45 days and pay five times more for late disbursements.

Mixed reviews

Unlike other conventional candidate roundtables, which often feature hand-picked supporters, Leonard invited both advocates and skeptics to the roundtable in DeWitt — many of whom were not on board with at least part of his proposal.

“It’s just going to do nothing but increase rates,” Bill Brewbaker, an insurance agent, said of expanding lawsuits, arguing it would “make an already complex system even more complex.” 

Tom Judd from the Michigan Brain Injury Provider Council, similarly, noted drivers could purchase unlimited coverage for their own injuries but still be sued to pay the bills of a driver who opted not to.

“It’s going to cost somewhere because people are injured and they’re going to need care,” he said.

Leonard also invited Maureen Howell, an advocate with no-fault reform group We Can’t Wait, which has been among the loudest critics of a 2019 overhaul that ended a mandate for Michigan motorists to purchase auto insurance plans with unlimited personal injury protection provisions. 

She was critical of some aspects of his plan, including the at-fault option, but said he was “on the right track” with his policy and praised him for coming forward with a proposal. 

A critical care nurse who became a full-time caregiver for her catastrophically injured son, Howell urged Leonard to push for a fee schedule for family-based care for the catastrophically injured. Leonard’s plan would set rates for the residential care of traumatic brain injuries.  

“It doesn’t matter how good of a job you do if they won’t allow you to survive (financially) to do it,” she said. 

Several attendees also lambasted insurers for using independent medical exams to reevaluate catastrophically injured patients and deny coverage. Leonard said it was the first he’d heard of the issue and would consider the issue, if examiners are biased in favor of insurance companies.

Leonard told Bridge Michigan that allowing that disagreement and conversation is what sets him apart from other gubernatorial candidates.

“This is what happens when you actually put a real plan on the table that actually has meat on the bone,” he said. “It opens you up for criticism because people can actually ask the tough questions.”

When Leonard was GOP speaker of the Michigan House in 2017 and 2018, he had worked on a similar auto insurance reform plan alongside another gubernatorial contender, then-Detroit Mayor and now-independent candidate Mike Duggan. They promised it could lower premiums as much as 50% — a far cry from the reality for drivers today.

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