Page 4 — Thursday, March 2, 2023 — The Hastings Banner
The Hastings Banner
Devoted to the interests of Barry County since 1856
Published by... Hastings Banner, Inc.
A Division of J-Ad Graphics Inc.
1351 N. M-43 Highway • Phone: (269) 945-9554 • Fax: (269) 945-
News and press releases: [email protected] • Advertising: [email protected]Frederic Jacobs
Publisher & CEOHank Schuuring
CFO- ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT •
Classified ads accepted Monday through Friday,
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Chris Silverman
Mike GilmoreTy Greenfield
Jennie Yonker- NEWSROOM •
Jayson Bussa (Editor)
Molly Macleod (Copy Editor)
Brett Bremer (Sports Editor)
Greg Chandler
Hunter McLaren
Subscription Rates: $78 per year in Barry County
$85 per year in adjoining counties
$90 per year elsewherePOSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
P.O. Box 188
Hastings, MI 49058-
Second Class Postage Paid
at Hastings, MI 49058Have you met?
Do you remember?
Did you see?
Michigan’s no-fault insurance
changes fail consumers
At first, I liked the idea suggested
recently by a national politician that all
candidates for public office over the age of
75 pass a mental competency test. Then, I
realized the proposal doesn’t go far enough- every politician should be tested.
Take our Michigan state legislators and
their bumble stumbling over auto insur-
ance reform as a glaring example. Our
elected lawmakers may want us to think
they can read but – even if they can – but
they certainly don’t understand the conse-
quences of the no-fault auto insurance fix
they passed in 2019 and which went into
effect in July 2021.
Legislators crowed that they had quelled
the outcry of state drivers by lowering
what had been the highest auto insurance
rates in the nation. Then they quickly start-
ed backpedaling after viewing the debacle
they had created. By balancing the rate
cuts on walking back the state’s promise of
lifetime care for more than 6,800 victims
of catastrophic automobile accidents, these
miscreants provided all the proof needed
that we are all cold, uncaring souls.
Adding to the insult is that insurance
rates are still high and legislators still
stand with their cold backs to the despera-
tion of victims who can no longer afford
the treatment they were promised for their
catastrophic auto accident injuries.
“Michigan was and is still among the
most expensive states in the nation for car
insurance,” Doug Heller of the Consumer
Federation of America told Tracy Samil-
ton during a recent Michigan Public Radio
interview. “Average rates are higher than
they were in 2019 when the law was
passed – that despite claims by the indus-
try that new competition has lowered rates
for insurance in Michigan.”
Experts also point out that the virtually
unchanged rates now do have something
missing: the care we once assured for
those catastrophically injured.
A Michigan Public Health Institute sur-
vey has found that of the 209 organiza-
tions that provide, or once did provide,
care for catastrophic accident victims, 72
have discharged some patients with the
now-inadequate auto insurance funding,
67 have reduced services significantly,
and another 14 are expected to close with-
in the next 12 months. Ten providers have
already closed completely since the reform
changes went into effect on July 1, 2021.
“What’s happening to auto crash
patients is becoming a humanitarian crisis
in Michigan – a crisis of care,” said Tom
Constand, president and CEO of the Brain
Injury Association of Michigan during a
WKAR radio interview.
I’ve written several columns about that
issue and legislators’ inability to come up
with a proposal that would reduce rates
and protect victims at the same time.
A new report says the auto insurance
industry in Michigan is using misleading
data to assert that the state’s 2019 auto law
attracted more than 50 new auto insurance
companies selling no-fault insurance.
Heller of the CFA pointed out that only
four new companies entered the market
and are now selling no-fault policies since
the 2019 law passed.
“We shouldn’t be misled to think that
there is so much new competition and that
the law did its job – it just didn’t do that,”
said Heller. “We have a law that appears to
be a pretty significant failure, and you
have the insurance companies trying to
hide that fact.”
Heller also said that a claim by the
insurance lobby that the new law has
saved consumers $5 billion is also mis-
leading.
“That’s because the $5 billion wasn’t
savings on insurance rates, it was money
that the Michigan Catastrophic Care Asso-
ciation took out of its reserves to distribute
to car owners,” he maintained. “The
MCCA later admitted it had to take too
much out, necessitating a higher fee on
insurance policies to make up the short-
fall. Meanwhile, thousands of survivors
across the state lost some, or all, of their
care, due to the new law cutting payments
to long-term care providers nearly in half.”
In 1978, the state legislature created the
Michigan Catastrophic Claims Associa-
tion, a non-profit unincorporated entity to
ensure that permanently disabled auto
accident victims and the families that
depended on them would be financially
supported for the remainder of the acci-
dent victims’ lives. We, as citizens of the
only state in the country to have such a
program, should be proud of the commit-
ment we made to forever protect these
victims.
The MCCA became the prime culprit in
our auto insurance rates soaring, though,
due to the fact that it never put in place a
review process to control prices paid to the
providers. The lack of oversight by state
legislators caused MCAA rates to meet
growing patient care costs.
Desperate to lower driver insurance
premiums as citizens became more vocal,
lawmakers passed a plan to reduce policy
coverages by allowing drivers to opt out of
unlimited medical benefits and choosing
from a selection of lesser plans.
The new plan effectively eliminated the
MCCA, resulting in savings on auto rates,
but it was supposed to continue to cover
people currently on the system. It sounded
good, but legislators failed to deal with
some of the real issues that also drove up
costs such as drivers with terrible driving
records, out-of-control medical costs and
rates that are determined based on where
the driver lives.
Plus, the MCCA has been run by insur-
ance companies with little or no oversight
from the general public or the legislature.
These are the issues that drove up rates,
making it nearly impossible for a grow-
ing number of residents to afford auto
insurance.
Currently, the average car insurance
rate in Michigan is $2,610 per year – 82
percent more expensive than the national
average. The cost is due to our no-fault
coverage, which requires personal injury
protection coverage, designed to cover
financial losses regardless of who is at
fault in an accident.
Citizens expected state leaders to dive
in and deal with a failing system that has
allowed premiums to increase at unrea-
sonable rates. Yet, based on what’s hap-
pened over the past four years, it’s readily
apparent that legislators didn’t fix the
system – they just reduced benefits by
putting more of the risk back on drivers
and reducing payments to providers for
those more than 6,800 victims who relied
on the special care afforded by our no-fault
system.
Michigan’s no-fault insurance coverage
was once considered one of the best in the
nation. Now, it’s no better than any other
state. Our elected leaders failed to correct
the system and make it more affordable
while still giving a level of care that’s
humane and decent for our fellow cata-
strophically-injured residents.
It’s sad that these victims have become
another group of forgotten citizens. After
watching leaders flounder and then cal-
lously dismiss those most in need of our
help, we all can consider ourselves victims.DEEP FREEZE
Pull up an icy chair and let’s talk about the crazy weath-
er we had.
The past week was defined by icy weather that caused
plenty of disruption both here in Barry County and beyond.
Last week Thursday, the county woke up to a thick layer
of ice covering just about everything, including this bench
on the main drag of State Street in Hastings.
The storm prompted school cancellations around the
state while knocking out power to hundreds of thousands
of homes. In fact, as of Monday of this week, there were
still some residents in southern Barry County that did not
have power.Singing across the world
Banner March 8, 1972“I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”–And the children at Hastings Northeastern Elementary School are learning a great
deal about other people and the countries in which they live, and hear they are singing that currently popular song which
has harmony, love and peace as its hope for all the people of the world. Mrs. Warren Williams (not shown) is playing the
piano for Mrs. W.O. Coleman’s third graders who really know the words and what the song means. Mrs. John Barnett’s
kindergarten children also made an exhibit for the Northeastern lobby designed to teach boys and girls about other kids in
other lands.–Banner photoWhen you think of a travel and guided
tour business, you might think of one based
out of Mackinac Island, the Everglades in
Florida, Louisiana’s historic and rustic New
Orleans, or our nation’s capital, Washing-
ton, D.C.
But, why not Woodland?
That’s where Jan Yonkers runs her
motorcoach tour business. She’s been run-
ning the business for seven years and was
working as a tour director for two years
before that. She got her start in the travel
business after retiring from her career as the
food service director for Lakewood Public
Schools. She jokes that she was only retired
for 11 days.
“When I got ready to retire, I couldn’t
stand the thought of sitting at home doing
nothing,” Yonkers said. “But I didn’t neces-
sarily want to do something every day,
either.”
Now, she runs Yonkers Tours from her
home in Woodland. She fell into the job –
she only got involved because her great-
niece worked at Hartzler Tours Next Gener-
ation in Lake Odessa and asked her to help
out. Yonkers, who was seeking something
to keep her busy for a few hours during the
week in her retirement, agreed to help.
Eventually, her niece moved on to other
opportunities and a decision was made to
disband the company. Yonkers was chosen
to carry on the company’s business and
provided with the company’s customer list
and a few other assets.
She took up the mantle and hasn’t looked
back since.
Although transitioning from managing
16 people in a lunch room to managing
around 30 clients on a bus tour might hard-
ly sound like being semi-retired, it makes
sense to Yonkers. For one, her hours are
much more flexible. She’s in control of
when and where she’s working. Most of all,
she gets to do two of the things she loves
most: travel and be around people.
“I get to do things on my bucket list,” she
said.
Yonkers has been traveling ever since she
was 10 years old, and she’s always loved it.
Don’t ask for her favorite travel destination- it’s too hard to choose just one.
When traveling with clients, Yonkers
said her number one goal is to provide them
with a tour experience that feels like one
they would get from driving around in their
own car. She tries to avoid crowded tourist
traps and instead opts for lesser-known,
hole-in-the-wall attractions.
“I’ve always planned all of my tours
myself. I don’t really like cities, so I stay
away from them,” she said. “We have done
a lot of backroads, off-the-beaten-path kind
of things.”
She also likes to include at least one sur-
prise location on each tour to keep every-
one on their toes. On one tour, her group
stopped by and toured a pet casket factory
in Gladstone. On another trip, a group
received a tour of a Federal Reserve Bank
in Detroit. She even has an upcoming mys-
tery tour through Amish country in Ohio,
where her Amish counterpart, Orley Miller,
will provide access to, and answer ques-
tions about, the community.
Although she likes getting to travel, Yon-
kers said the best part about her job is the
people she’s around and the connections
she makes.
Traveling with total strangers for hours
or days at a time on a bus is not as fun as
traveling with friends. That’s why Yonkers
tries to forge connections between travelers
and introduce them to like-minded people
they might not have talked to otherwise.
“I try to make sure that people are con-
necting with each other,” Yonkers said.“Give them a reason to make a connection
with someone.”
Making those connections is what makes
the job great, she said. Often, she’ll find
travelers have more in common than they
realize. On one trip, two strangers realized
they graduated from the same university in
the same curriculum in the same year.
“It’s fun, and they come from all walks
of life,” she said.
Most of all, Yonkers is just happy to be
able to provide an avenue for people to trav-
el and see the world. Even on her most chal-
lenging days when her tours might be way-
laid by traffic, weather or scheduling con-
flicts, it’s still a great experience, she said.
“I’m keeping myself busy and my mind
active. Some days, I’m trying to get from
one place to another in a certain period of
time and it all blows up and I can’t do any
of it,” she said. “But I’ve (still) traveled all
day. I feel like I’ve traveled somewhere.”
For helping the residents of Barry Coun-
ty and beyond see the world, Jan Yonkers is
this week’s Bright Light.
First job: I worked for William’s Depart-
ment Store in Lake Odessa. I went to Lan-
sing Business University, and I have an
associate’s degree in merchandising. I got a
job at the store and did windows and retail
for them.
What I like about my job: What I really
like is meeting people. I like the travel, I
really do. But (in this business), you better
like people. Everybody’s there because
they want to do something fun and relax
and enjoy themselves. We’re all kind of in
the same boat.
My biggest challenge: In the business, I
think my biggest challenge is thinking of
places people would want to visit. I know
what I like, and (other) people fall into that,
but I want to be able to offer people a vaca-
tion they would like to go on if they were in
their own car.Each week, the Banner profiles a person
who makes the community shine. Do you
know someone who should be featured
because of volunteer work, fun-loving per-
sonality, for the stories he or she has to tell,
or for any other reason? Send information
to Newsroom, Hastings Banner, 1351 N.
M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058; or
email [email protected].Jan YonkersFred Jacobs, CEO,
J-Ad Graphics Inc.