NU Online News Service, Nov. 3, 2003, 2:37 p.m. EST – The Michigan Senate has voted 37-0 to pass a revised version of House Bill 4907, a bill that would let life insurance policyholders take out a higher percentage of the death benefit before death than is currently allowed.
House Bill 4907, sponsored by Rep. John Stahl, R-North Branch, Mich., amends the insurance code to revise provisions regulating accelerated benefits from life insurance policies. These are benefits paid before death, rather than upon death, in specifically permitted circumstances.
Circumstances that could trigger the accelerated death benefits provisions include the onset of life-threatening or catastrophic medical conditions, according to an analysis prepared by the Michigan House of Representatives staff.
The House voted 108-0 to pass a slightly different version of the bill in early October.
The model for the bill has been around since 1990, and many states have long since passed a similar bill, says Carrie Hartgen, legislative director of state regulations for the American Council of Life Insurers, Washington.
The model was created in response to the AIDS crisis, Hartgen says.
