Shifting Gears ~ Dondi Vesprini - Attorney

I hope everyone has been enjoying a nice Fall season.  In many parts of the State, we were spoiled with some unseasonably warm days in early October that felt like riding in Summer.  Here is to a safe Fall season colored with the beautiful turning of the leaves that is so unmistakably Michigan.  

In many of my articles, I write about the need to stay vigilant with your legislators in Lansing to get our insurance situation turned around to allow motorcyclists to enjoy the freedom to exercise their own choice of no fault medical benefits, just like every other motorist, pedestrian and bicyclist gets to do in the event of an accident with a motor vehicle.  The need for the vigilance is because the insurance industry, who has a bad habit of opposing many of the bills that are good for motorcyclists, remains vigilant in seeking to pass bills that are good for the insurance industry.  This month I am highlighting three such bills. 

The first is House Bill 4713.  In Michigan, we have the Health Care False Claim Act which essentially makes it illegal for a person to make or present a clam for payment of health care benefits knowing the claim to be false.  It also criminalizes if a person knowingly makes or cause to be made a false statement or false representation of a material fact to a health care corporation or health care insurer for use in determining rights to health care benefits.  Traditionally, one of the main focuses of the Act is to protect health insurance companies from false claims by doctors of other medical providers who bill health insurers for treatment that was not actually performed or for treatment that was not medically necessary.  Under the Act, each false claim made constitutes a separate violation and a violator is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 4 years, or by a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both.  House Bill 4713 amends the Health Care False Claim Act to add auto no fault insurers to health insurers protected under the Act.  This then would potentially subject no-fault claimants to felony charges for making a fraudulent claim to have medical bills paid after an accident.  This is notable because in my experience representing injured people in accidents, many no fault insurance companies try to allege that claims are fraudulent, even when there is no intent to defraud the insurance company by the claimant.  For example, a claimant may innocently submit a monthly calendar claiming attendant care or household services every day of the month on a pre-made calendar template that has 31 days for each month, during a month that only had 30 days.  Another example may be where a claimant has innocently made a mistake on their application for no fault benefits.  In neither example did the claimant intentionally seek to mislead or defraud the insurance company, but some insurers may categorize these as examples of fraud.  Also, the no fault law already allows the insurer a complete defense in civil law to discontinue or seek reimbursement of benefits if paid pursuant to an actual fraudulent claim.  This bill passed the House on September 18, 2025 by a vote of 101 TO 2. Further, our State already has statutes which criminalize insurance fraud.  

This leads us to the second bill to touch on, being House Bill 4716.  This bill would increase the penalties for insurance fraud.  Essentially, if the fraud is less than $1,000.00, it is a misdemeanor with a penalty of prison for not more than 1 year or fine of not more than $2,000 or 3 times the amount of the claim; if the fraud is $1,000.00 – $20,000.00 it is a felony with a penalty of prison for not more than 5 years or fine of not more than $10,000 or 3 times the amount of the claim; and the penalties continue to escalate from there depending on the amount of the fraud.  This bill passed the House on September 18, 2025 by a vote of 101 TO 2.  Notably, there is no comparable bill to criminally charge no fault adjusters who bogusly deny legitimate claims.  

The third bill is House Bill 5030 which seeks an interesting amendment to no fault policies that provide for unlimited medical benefits.  This bill provides that for no fault policies that provide unlimited medical benefits, an insurer shall offer deductibles in increments of $1,000.00, up to the average amount paid in medical benefits for all motor vehicle accidents that occurred in this state in the preceding year and that resulted in accidental bodily injury. A deductible under this subsection must result in an appropriately reduced premium and apply only to benefits payable to the person named in the policy, the spouse of the insured, and any relative of either domiciled in the same household.  There is no guarantee how much the reduced premium will be, but I don’t foresee it being worth it to anyone to offer to pay the first $1,000.00 of their own medical bills when you are opting that the insurance company pay unlimited medical benefits. These bills offer some food for thought as we move into the Thanksgiving season as an example of the continued activity of the insurance industry in Lansing, and serves as a reason we can be thankful for those that fight the fight for motorcyclists in Lansing to keep the freedoms we enjoy. As always, if anyone has any questions or if I can be of legal assistance to you or anyone you know who has been injured in a motorcycle accident, please don’t hesitate to contact me as I successfully represent injured motorcyclists statewide and have recovered millions of dollars on their behalf.  Further, if you would like to have me come out to your Region or any other organization you belong to, to speak or give a presentation on the legal rights of an injured motorcyclist or on any specific topic that your group may be curious about, please don’t hesitate to give me a call at (248-569-4646) or shoot me an e-mail at Dondi@buckfirelaw.com.  I give presentations state-wide and there is never a charge associated with having me out.  I enjoy having the opportunity to come out and meet motorcycle enthusiasts from all parts of our State!