LANSING – Legislation to overhaul auto insurance might have new life after Michigan Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville confirmed Tuesday it is on the Senate’s agenda.

“We are definitely going to take up no-fault insurance this fall,” Richardville (R-Monroe) said Tuesday on WJR-AM’s “Frank Beckmann Show.”

Richardville did not offer much detail, but said he wanted to see legislation that would manage the cost of the cases covered by the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. Governor Rick Snyder has proposed replacing the MCCA for future cases with a new Michigan Catastrophic Claims Corporation.

Richardville said he did not know about eliminating the MCCA, but said he was interested in making it more public. Currently, MCCA officials say its board meetings are not subject to the Open Meetings Act and the organization is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

Groups backing the existing system of unlimited medical benefits for catastrophic injuries are waging a lawsuit seeking to force the MCCA to release information under FOIA.

“I think that the people should be able to see what those costs are and how they’re distributed,” Richardville said.

Sen. Joe Hune (R-Hamburg), chair of the Senate Insurance Committee, said Richardville’s comments are exciting news and came as something of a surprise.

Up until now, Hune said the Senate had held off acting on the issue with the plan of waiting for the House to pass its legislation.

But the House bill (HB 4612 ) has been sitting on the House floor for more than four months with public opposition from a pile of Republicans to a cap on medical benefits, combined with solid Democratic opposition, to keep it from having anywhere near enough votes to pass.

Hune said Senate Republicans have not had an extensive discussion about the issue in some time.

“The main components of the bills are still challenging,” he said of where the caucus has come down on the issue in the past. “There’s varying degrees of heartburn for each.”

But Hune said he is hopeful.

“This needs to happen. We need to provide some savings to our constituents,” he said.

Critics of the reform proposals have said those savings are minimal compared to the benefits the current system provides. Snyder’s proposal only guarantees savings for one year, they also have noted.

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