Attorney files lawsuit challenging ‘constitutionality’ of new no-fault law

GRAND RAPIDS, me. July 2nd, 2021 is a date lawyer Tim Sinas will keep an eye on himself. On this day everything changes for people and medical providers who help others who have been injured in car accidents.

“The conflict is that as of July this year, medical providers treating victims of car accidents will be subject to new reimbursement rules that have never existed in our healthcare industry,” said personal injury attorney Tom Sinas of Sinas Dramis Law. “We are about to enter the third phase of our no-fault law, and this third phase is the most serious and significant when it comes to reimbursements to medical providers and then access to care by victims of a car accident. “

Sinas said under the old law that servants or family members who looked after loved ones could receive fair wages no matter how many hours they worked. Now, on July 2nd, they are only paid for eight hours of work.

“Many families have chosen to keep care within their family union over the past few decades and many of them have restructured their lives around the idea that they can get an hourly rate for the care they provide,” said Sinas during an interview at the law firm on Monday. “I’ve represented people who left their careers to take care of their child, wife or husband.”

The new law, he continued, also affects medical care providers. Under the old laws, providers, whether in hospitals or rehabilitation clinics, received a “reasonable fee” for their services. Starting in July, there will be new rules that will limit the amount of reimbursement they can get.

“The general concept here is that for many providers, reimbursement is tied to the amount Medicare pays. For example, you hear the general rule that for many providers the reimbursement is a percentage from Medicare. We generally start in 200 percent of Medicare, ”Sinas said. “Well, what about all of the services that a lot of people get that aren’t the kind of services that Medicare pays for?”

Like home care and skilled care, he said. These are services that Medicare does not cover.

The new bipartisan law was signed by the governor back in 2019 and supported by the legislature. One of the “most problematic parts,” Sinas said, is that the new law affects people who had contracts prior to 2019.

So he takes action.

“We can see that the insurance industry is making this clear [they] intend to impose these rules on everyone, regardless of whether you were violated in 2020 or 1990, ”Sinas said. “Our law firm has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of this law. One of the allegations in this lawsuit is that it is constitutionally unacceptable to impose these types of rules on restricting care on individuals who were in contracts prior to the enactment of the law. “

FOX 17 reached out to the Michigan Senate GOP and Rep. Jason Wentworth to discuss their views on the new law and has not yet received a response.

Sinas believes proponents created it to overhaul the entire system. However, it has been rushed and it ends up doing more harm to people than good, he said.

“You are punishing people who have not played a role in any part of the system [they] think doesn’t work and who paid for the auto insurance premiums and who followed the rules and relied on the care they get from loved ones and the care they get from their medical providers, “Sinas said.” And suddenly because of the desire to fix the system [they] turned life upside down, humans. That’s the thing with it. In each of these cases, people stand at the end. It’s not just about dollars, whether it’s health dollars or insurance dollars. “