Increase Auto Insurance Liability Limits in Wisconsin

What are the chances that you could be seriously injured in a car accident – through no fault of your own – and later find out the other driver doesn't have adequate insurance coverage to pay for your medical bills? The shocking reality is that this scenario is more common than you might think. Many people don't realize that one reason health insurance rates are increasing is because of cost shifting from the obsolete auto insurance system. When people are injured in an automobile accident and they do not have adequate auto insurance to cover the cost of the damages suffered, then health insurers, Medicaid, SeniorCare, BadgerCare or charity care pays for the uncovered health care costs. For people with health insurance, this means the cost of your monthly premium goes up, while people without insurance watch the possibility of affordable health care slip farther away. There is a solution: Governor Doyle has proposed increasing the liability limits for auto insurance. Wisconsin has had the same minimum rates of liability coverage since 1982. A higher liability limit is a necessary improvement to ensure that everyone who pays for auto insurance has adequate coverage. Automobile insurance lobbyists admit that higher liability limits will make it easier for health insurers and government assistance programs to recover more money, but they oppose Doyle's long overdue reform because they are more interested in protecting their bottom lines. Take Action! Send a message to your state legislators!

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Dear (recipient name),

Minimum limits for auto-insurance liability coverage in Wisconsin are dangerously low, are out-of-date, and need to change. While Wisconsin automobile insurance minimum liability limits have been in place since 1982 – $25,000 per individual, $50,000 per incident and $1,000 for medical expenses – it is not realistic to believe that these amounts are sufficient to cover one's own liability for causing a serious accident.

This obsolete and unbalanced policy places citizens at risk of being unable to cover their liability if they cause an accident, and causes a cost shifting problem to both private and public health insurance programs.

Not only are the current limits too low to cover a driver's liability, but when people are injured in a car accident and they do not have adequate automobile insurance to cover the cost of the damages suffered, then health insurers, Medicaid, SeniorCare, BadgerCare or charity care pays for the uncovered health care costs. This kind of cost shifting is one of the reasons that health care costs have risen so significantly.

I support Governor Doyle's proposal for higher liability limits of  $100,000 per individual, $300,000 per incident and $10,000 for medical expenses, as this is a necessary improvement to ensure that everyone who pays for auto insurance has adequate coverage.

Those representing automobile insurers admit that having higher liability limits will make it easier for health insurers and government assistance programs to recover more money, but they oppose Doyle's long overdue reform because they are more interested in protecting their bottom lines.

For example, between 2004 and 2006, property and casualty insurers' profits were estimated to be $149.2 billion by the Consumer Federation of America. Insurers in Wisconsin are showing healthy surpluses: American Family, $4.1 billion; State Farm, $63.5 billion; West Bend, $510.9 million; and General Casualty, $744.6 million.

Wisconsin consumers would be well served to have adequate automobile insurance to cover the costs of accidents, rather than shifting costs to health care insurers and taxpayers. Given the financial health of the property and casualty insurers, it is a fair burden for them to carry.

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