Attendant Care Services Ruling Helps Car Accident Victims
The Michigan Court of Appeals just issed an opinion that is favorable to Michigan car accident injury victims who require attendant care services. These are services provided to the injued person during the period of recovery and rehablitation. Under the Michigan no-fault insurance laws, the auto insurance company must pay a resonable amount for these services.
Attendant care services can be provided by a staffing agency, a private individual, or even a family member. Quite often, it involves supervision, monitoring, and other activities for the safety and well-being of the patient. It also includes bathing, providing medications, changing PICC lines, and other services.
Insurance companies routinely deny paying these claims for a variety of unlawful reasons. They either claim that the services are not needed, that the rate for the services is too high, or even that claim forms were not properly submitted. They also deny claims by arguing that the person who provided the services did not expect to be paid.
Well, the Michigan Court of Appeals rejected many of those arguments when it issued Salman v. Amica on December 17, 2009 (Docket No. 286923) In that case, a family member provided attendant care services and submitted claims to the insurance company. The company refused to pay the claims because it argued that the family member did not submit the claim forms in time and that the person did not expect to be paid.
The Court rejected the insurance companies defense and held that “there is no requirement that these forms be filled out contemporaneously. Rather, there is a permissible inference that the family member had a reasonable expectation of payment because she filled out the forms going back to the day of the accident.” Moreover, the Court held that there is no requirement that the care provider assign a dollar amount to the care provided in order to satisfy the incurred requirement. In this regard, it was permissible to request “whatever the jury thought was reasonable.”
This new decision confirms that insurance companies cannot avoid payments on technical requirements that were not included in the Michigan No-Fault statute. Although they will continue to deny legitimate claims, this case makes it much harder for them do so and holds them accountable for improperly denying claims. This is a great victory for victims of serious injuries in Michigan car accicdents.
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