Michigan House Democrats scored a victory Wednesday in passing legislation they say will protect consumers from wrongful denials, but House Republicans claimed that the Gov. Jennifer Granholm administration has been using bullying tactics to pressure Republicans to support it.
On Wednesday, House Republican Leader Kevin Elsenheimer, R-Kewadin, said that several Republican House members had received calls from the office of Michigan Automobile and Home Insurance Consumer Advocate Butch Hollowell asking them to provide names of political supporters and opponents, the margin of electoral victory and other information. Elsenheimer said the caller stated the purpose of the information was to be used to rally support for insurance legislation pending before the House.
“Politics is politics, but what the governor’s office of Auto and Home Insurance Consumer Advocate is doing would make Tony Soprano blush,” said Elsenheimer. “This is nothing but a strong-arm shake down on the part of the Granholm-Cherry administration and Hollowell to intimidate Republicans into backing a planned pay-off to the trial lawyers lobby, ‘or else.’”
Today, Hollowell denied his staff members had been requesting political and electoral information from House Republicans, but acknowledged his staff has been compiling county-by-county data on unemployment rates and numbers of uninsured drivers from lawmakers of both parties in recent months. He said that effort was related to ongoing insurance reform efforts.
Hollowell said his intent was not to bully Republicans.
“There are other ways we can get the information,” he said. “We’ll respect that.”
The legislation, which is now headed to the Senate, would strengthen penalties against insurance companies that illegitimately deny consumer claims, hold CEOs accountable when they knowingly foster wrongful denial of claims by making the misconduct a felony and create whistle-blower protection.
