State Insurance Claims, Reform

Auto-insurance reform means a great deal more than just lower rates for those who are seriously injured in traffic accidents. It will also determine whether a trauma center is available to provide the life-saving treatment they require.

In California, 65%-70% of trauma center patients are injured in traffic accidents and yet auto insurance only pays 3% of trauma center costs. In no-fault states like New York, auto insurance pays more than 50% of trauma center costs, and even in non-no-fault states like Oregon, this figure is more than 30%. In fact, of $12 billion in auto insurance premiums, California’s trauma centers receive only 1/5 of 1%. No other state provides a smaller share of its auto insurance resources to medical care for the seriously injured.

California’s auto insurance system is a mess. Rates are so high that many drivers cannot afford it. When negligence by an insured driver can be proven, payments for hospital bills are generally pocketed by the claimant, whether the actual bill was paid by his or her health insurance or not paid at all. The poor, with few assets to protect and no health insurance, are supposed to buy coverage for the other guy, but not themselves.

The system’s priorities are inverted. 90% of all injury claims to auto insurance are not verifiable. The dubious claimant has first priority; the seriously injured last.

An affordable, no-frills auto insurance policy providing first-person coverage would be a excellent start on auto insurance reform and would put most trauma centers back into business.

GREG BISHOP, Trauma Resource Project, Irvine