DIFS: Milliman study finds Michigan’s 2019 no-fault reforms cut average premiums but shifted costs and raised access questions

The House Insurance Committee heard on Dec. 1 from the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) about a Milliman, Inc. study of the 2019 no-fault auto insurance reforms and their impact on premiums, coverage choices and access to care.

DIFS legislative liaison manager Jenny Geese introduced the presentation and said the legislature directed the study in the FY2025 budget; Milliman won the competitive procurement and executed a conflict-of-interest plan overseen by DIFS. Geese said Milliman used insurer filings (2016–2024), Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) payment data, Medicaid and Medicare datasets and other commercial data covering roughly 92% of the private-passenger market to estimate effects of the reforms.

Joseph Sullivan, director of innovation and research at DIFS, summarized Milliman’s executive findings: between 2019 and 2024 the report estimates the reform reduced the overall average auto insurance premium per vehicle by about $357, or roughly 18.8 percent. The report attributes most of that reduction to changes in personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. Milliman estimated average PIP premium per vehicle fell substantially (the presentation cited a…