It’s about time Sen. Proos awakened to the fact that citizens of Michigan pay an exorbitant amount for their auto insurance, based off his column that ran on Feb. 9. I have been writing to my state representatives since 2010, when my auto insurance premiums skyrocketed for no apparent reason.
I wrote many times to Proos about this issue, with the last time coming on March 6, 2016. The only reply I received was an automated email stating his office receives hundreds of emails and that he would contact me later.
I never heard another word from Proos.
Rep. Dave Pagel has written several explanatory emails to me about this issue. Mainly, it is the cost of the Michigan’s uninsured drivers’ fund, where drivers with no insurance who are injured are covered for life, with medical costs 100 percent paid. Additionally, Pagel said, in an email to me from March 24, 2016, “Car insurance companies qualify for a tax credit and did not pay $60 million in taxes last fiscal year and are estimated to not pay $80 million in taxes this fiscal year and have received a tax credit worth an estimated $140 million over the past two years.”
While approving “the sky’s the limit” medical coverage, the Michigan Legislature repealed the motorcycle helmet law.
Review your insurance premium bill to see what you are paying for this law. I urge citizens to contact their state representatives about this issue.
JEAN ROWE
Dowagiac