Accident Fund Calls on Michigan Legislature to Remove Limitations on Its Business |
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Written by U.S. Insurance News
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Friday, 22 February 2008 |
For more than 13 years, Accident Fund Insurance Company of America has worked as a private carrier.
For more than 13 years, Accident Fund Insurance Company of America has worked as a private carrier. Once owned by the state of Michigan, it is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM).
But now, Accident claims, it’s time for the Michigan legislature to remove the shackles that severely limit its business.
Legislation currently before the Michigan Senate (House Bills 5284 and 5285) would remove a 13-year-old provision in Michigan law—put in place when BCBSM bought Accident Fund—that allows the carrier to sell only workers compensation insurance. Passage of the bills would allow BCBSM subsidiary companies to market other property-casualty lines of insurance, including life, property, auto, disability, casualty, marine, and surety and fidelity.
Elizabeth Haar, CEO of Accident Fund, said that without a change in the law, her company would remain at a competitive disadvantage.
“Workers compensation is a property and casualty product, and our competitors across the country can package additional P&C products for their customers, such as liability or fleet auto,” Haar said. “Michigan law prohibits Accident Fund from providing a full array of products to meet our customers’ needs, and this puts our company at a competitive disadvantage in the national marketplace.”
Haar added that Accident Fund is committed to staying in Michigan, where it is enjoying its new headquarters on the waterfront in Lansing. If lawmakers remove the competitive barriers, the carrier could add many more jobs to the state, she noted.
“Accident Fund has a proven track record of bringing jobs back to Michigan through growth of our business,” she explained. “In 1999 Accident Fund employed 380 people in Michigan. Having the ability to diversify nationally has grown our employee base to over 650 people, some in the field, but most in Michigan. Since our national expansion in 2000, approximately 350 of over 650 employees support our national business from our Michigan office.”
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