This may be in particular of the Michigan no-fault auto (vehicular) laws. Any bodily injury from an accident is the responsibility of your insurer and not the party at fault.

Every year here you are assessed a state operated catastrophic medical fund premium.

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About the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association MCCA stands for Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. It's a special fund set up by state law. Our no-fault insurance system provides unlimited medical benefits for people who are hurt in auto accidents. So, a single injury can cost millions of dollars. MCCA reimburses insurance companies for these large losses after they reach a certain threshold, currently at $530,000. Then companies have to pay an assessment to cover what MCCA paid out for claims. Finally, this cost is passed on to all policyholders. In other words, the MCCA charge is your share of the cost for catastrophic injuries resulting from traffic accidents. To find out more details about the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, including financial data, visit: http://www.michigancatastrophic.com http://www.iiminfo.org/CONSUMERS/Aut...5/Default.aspx

Bottom line is that the insurer will not coordinate benefits resulting from an auto accident -- that is the auto insurer's claim -- that ended up costing me an extra $250 or so in the end.

Here it is why it is better for me to pay the $550 +-/yr to have the state fund pay the primary PIP

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3. If you have an HMO. HMOs can be very restrictive and can often result in delayed medical treatment. By electing primary medical PIP, you do not have to treat within the HMO and can substantially expedite your treatment and improve your choice of providers. 4. Important Warning about Medicare and Medicaid if you are injured in a car accident and have Michigan No-Fault insurance: If you have Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration Benefits or any county health plan, you should have primary medical PIP on your auto No-Fault insurance. This helps to avoid the ?super liens? that providers of government benefits may otherwise have against your automobile negligence case (the case for your personal injuries and pain and suffering that you would bring against the person who has caused your accident). http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=19025

I'll have to look into it at the end of the year when the HMO/PPO ? policy expires. Blue Cross/Blue Sheild was $2,000+- more a year -- this addone PIP primary ended up costing $250 or $1,700 or so less -- so I am ahead of the game (I guess paying less for ?) :upsidedow

So, this brings the whole argument down to the reason for universal health coverage -- then there would be no need, and the excess costs and profits, in all of this bullshit ... No matter where you are: if you buy auto insurance a cost of $500 - $1,200 +- in premium/yr revolves around bodily injury auto accident events.

In theory yes. In reality NO! Why? The insurers need to pay the lawyers and make their cut too (profits).

See my post above^ The low-lifers will have universal healthcare.

Yes: "not obamacare but real universal care then sure"

None of that changes the fact that if "you (that person)" survive a serious auto accident "you (that person)" will end up with $250K or more in medical costs. The laws say they have to transport "you (that person)" to emergency care and that someone will have to pay.

So, if "you (that person)" cannot pay we all have to pay collectively (the Government pays).

Now, Medicare or Medicaid will reimburse 30 cents on the dollar or less. Auto insurers might pay 70% or more of medical accident related claims. (I think the percentage of reimbursement is higher actually.)

Retrogression to "my grandparents early days." will not happen unless a good part of the world is destroyed so it's irrelevant. That $878 I was originally charged for the MCCA medical fund is similar to lpink's uninsured premium cost on his policy in Florida -- all it is is cutting a piece of cake and calling it soufflé -- essentially it is a piece of food. If it was called a POS to eat that would be more metaphoric.

I live for today and tomorrow -- the past is the past.

Maybe by law ...

http://www.statisticbrain.com/uninsu...st-statistics/

Interesting list ...

If you don't pay the federal government pays about 17% of a participating hospital's indigent care -- you didn't know that?
The hospital writes the balance off if uncollected and factors that into the prices they charge.

INDIGENT CARE PROGRAMS IN SELECTED STATES WITHOUT COPN PROGRAMS
http://dls.virginia.gov/GROUPS/COPN/...digentCare.pdf

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NRS 428.235  Application for reimbursement of charges; hospitals eligible for reimbursement. 1.  If the hospital receives a certification that the person is an indigent person and it has complied with the procedures for collection established by the Board of Trustees of the Fund, it may apply to the Board for reimbursement or partial reimbursement of the unpaid charges for hospital care furnished to the indigent person. 2.  The application must be in such form and contain such information as the Board requires. 3.  If such an indigent patient is transferred, within 3 days after the first admission of the indigent patient, from one hospital to another, both hospitals are entitled to reimbursement in full for their unpaid charges. (Added to NRS by 1983, 1940; A 1987, 1663) Nevada State Law: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-...l#NRS428Sec235

So, the costs are transferred first to the states' Medicaid, then to federal government with uncollected costs then borne by the the patient payor. It's a hidden tax for healthcare of sorts.

You were not indigent so they collected something from you in cash ...

If you settled below any actual costs then any unrecovered costs were just added to other patient's bills as you were not indigent. The profits were written off and this loss affect's the contract price insurers negotiate.

Medical costs go up because medical services are not something you can outsource or something that you can import in a box. Medical costs charged to Insurers are not regulated only the premiums that Insurers charge are regulated (rubber stamped tariffs (policy premiums)) by that state's Insurance Commission and now there are mimimal requirements to policy coverage enacted by The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) .

No. The 80% co-pay has a deductible also, after that co-pay deductible amount is reached, if your policy has no exclusion for auto accidents, the insurer pays 100%.

I had $20K to $30K in these co-pay services for 3 years. The deductibles were $1.5K/$1.5K for a total of $3K out of pocket (patient expense).