To prepare for Advocacy Day on March 12, read these stories from a car accident survivor and a long-term care provider on why Michigan’s auto insurance laws need to be fixed.
JOHN E. HARNISH
Michigan Conference Communications
Sometimes, a split second can determine the rest of your life. That’s what happens for the survivors of catastrophic auto accidents. Clark Shuler knows this all too well.
One night in March 1987, Clark was on his way home while serving in the Air National Guard when he hit a car abandoned in the road. The accident resulted in a spinal cord injury, leaving him as a quadriplegic with no function below the site of the injury. He spent five months in the hospital and rehabilitation, then came home to Ann Arbor with services covered by his insurance company.
“For 32 years,” Clark said, “things were going well. Then, in 2019, the legislature passed a bill limiting benefits for accident victims.” Before that, he had even been able to travel to his family’s vacation home on Torch Lake, thanks to services through Munson Healthcare. Suddenly, the hospital could no longer provide what he needed due to reduced reimbursements. Since then, he says it has been a constant battle to ensure his care.
Clark’s story reflects the experiences of many. As a member of the Air National Guard, he was concerned about veterans of the Iraq War who came home with brain injuries and were unable to find care because of institutions that had been forced to close after 2019. “Before then,” he said, “Michigan provided excellent care. But in 2019, they just lopped it off with a machete.” Both the accident in 1987 and the legislation of 2019 were moments that radically changed Clark’s life.
Since 2019, auto injury patients have had fewer services available and less access to care. Hospitals are struggling to discharge severely injured clients to appropriate settings because the post-acute providers are not able to accept the patients in their programs.
On March 12, 2025, the Michigan Conference’s Advocacy Day will focus on the experiences of people like Clark and the crisis in care caused by Michigan’s 2019 auto no-fault insurance law. United Methodists and other faith leaders will urge state policymakers to address this humanitarian crisis out of compassion for both victims and medical professionals.
One of those providers is Brant Wilson, the CEO of Lighthouse Neurological Rehabilitation Center, which has offices in Caro and Traverse City. Wilson’s grandmother created Lighthouse in 1987 when she needed to find care for a son injured in an auto accident. Lighthouse has maintained her commitment to care for patients as you would for one of your family members.
For over 30 years, they served about 200 patients a year with residential and outpatient services, but that changed dramatically in 2019 when reimbursements were cut by 45%. “No program,” Brant said, “can sustain that drastic a cut without impacting their patients. Today, people call with heart-wrenching stories about a family member injured in an auto accident. In too many cases, we are not able to serve them.”
Most Michigan residents are unaware of the impact of the 2019 auto insurance law, but as Brant says, “This issue affects every Michigander. Before 2019, we had the country’s most comprehensive, compassionate care system for auto accident injuries. We gave that up for the illusion of reduced cost on our auto insurance.”
For Clark and Brant, the 2019 auto insurance law was a life-changing moment, and it can be for anyone. “People don’t realize the negative impact of these changes until they are experiencing these difficult circumstances themselves,” Brant said. “It’s a story that needs to be told with hopes of change. Let’s correct the damage done in 2019.”
On March 12, United Methodists and friends across Michigan will join in an Advocacy Day in Lansing to tell stories and call for justice and compassion at the State Capitol. Perhaps this can be another life-changing moment for Clark, Brant, and all Michiganders.
Are you interested in joining? You can still register for Advocacy Day, and walk-ups are welcome next Wednesday. Click here to learn more and register. Also, plan on staying for a new afternoon training at 2 pm, which will allow you to organize with others around critical issues at the national level.
Last Updated on March 13, 2025