What Are the Six PIP Medical Options and Which One Should I Choose?
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Before July 1, 2020, every Michigan auto policy had to include unlimited PIP medical. That paid reasonably necessary accident care, regardless of fault, with no dollar cap. It also helped make Michigan premiums among the highest in the country.
Public Acts 21 and 22 of 2019 kept No-Fault, but they let you pick a PIP medical limit. Work loss, replacement services and funeral benefits are still in the statute; the six choices only cap medical allowable expenses (MCL 500.3107c).
If you never make a valid selection, the policy is supposed to issue with unlimited PIP medical. An insurance agent should walk you through the form. If you are already hurt, a car accident lawyer can tell you which limit actually applies.
Do You Have a Case?WHAT DOES PIP MEDICAL COVER?
PIP medical is supposed to pay allowable expenses that are reasonable and necessary for care, recovery and rehabilitation (MCL 500.3107): hospital and doctor bills, rehab, prescriptions, equipment, attendant care, and often home or vehicle modifications.
Separately, PIP still generally pays about 85% of work loss for up to three years (subject to a monthly cap) and replacement services such as housework, historically up to $20 a day, also for up to three years. Those pieces are not the six medical options. Even a Medicare opt-out still includes them (DIFS No-Fault FAQ).
Unlimited PIP medical also does not restore pre-2019 provider rates. For crashes on or after June 11, 2019, fee schedules and the family attendant-care hour cap in MCL 500.3157 can still apply. See Andary v. USAA.
Insurers must offer a rider for attendant care above the $50,000, $250,000 or $500,000 medical limit (MCL 500.3107c; DIFS FAQ). Ask whether you bought it.
HOW MUCH DO YOU SAVE WITH A LOWER LIMIT?
Less PIP medical usually means a lower PIP medical premium, not a guaranteed cut to the whole auto bill. MCL 500.2111f requires insurers, on a statewide average versus May 1, 2019 rates, to cut PIP medical premiums by at least:
- 45% for the $50,000 option
- 35% for $250,000
- 20% for $500,000
- 10% for unlimited
Those averages run through policies effective before July 2, 2028. Your quote depends on the rest of the policy. A Medicare or Option-4 exclusion that drops PIP medical for a person is supposed to take that person’s PIP medical premium to zero.
The other side of the ledger is simple: when medical bills pass the limit you bought, the auto insurer stops paying those allowable expenses. $250,000 or $500,000 is a lot of clinic visits. It is not a lot of ICU, spine surgery and years of attendant care.
Recommended reading: Can I Opt Out of PIP If I Have Medicare?
WHAT ARE THE SIX PIP MEDICAL OPTIONS?
DIFS lists them this way. Limits are per person per accident.
Option 1 — Unlimited
Same medical scope as the old mandatory coverage: no aggregate dollar cap on allowable medical expenses. Still the most complete auto-medical net, and still subject to today’s fee schedules for a post-reform crash.
Option 2 — $500,000
The insurer pays up to $500,000 in PIP medical. Anyone can select this.
Option 3 — $250,000
Same idea, lower cap. Anyone can select this.
Option 4 — $250,000 with exclusions
You buy $250,000 PIP medical, then exclude named people who have qualified health coverage that is not Medicare or Medicaid (MCL 500.3109a). Excluded people have no PIP medical on this policy. People who were not excluded still have the $250,000 pot.
This is not the Medicare $0 option.
Option 5 — $50,000 (Medicaid)
Available only if the applicant or named insured is on Medicaid, and the spouse and resident relatives have QHC, Medicaid, or PIP medical on another Michigan auto policy (MCL 500.3107c(1)(a)).
Option 6 — No PIP medical (Medicare)
The named insured must have Medicare Parts A and B or a Medicare Advantage plan. The spouse and resident relatives must have QHC or PIP medical on another Michigan auto policy (MCL 500.3107d).
QHC is Medicare A and B (or Advantage), or other health coverage that does not exclude auto-accident injuries and whose annual individual deductible is no higher than the DIFS cap — $6,579 from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 (Bulletin 2026-08-INS). Medicaid and health-care sharing ministries are not QHC.
Options 4, 5 and 6 need proof at issue and at renewal. If someone loses QHC mid-term, tell the carrier; the statute can put PIP medical back on.
Recommended reading: Your Guide to Understanding Michigan No-Fault Insurance
WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
We are not your insurance agent. In most households that can afford it, unlimited is still the option that matches how expensive a serious crash actually is. Lower limits and opt-outs exist so premiums can come down. They shift the catastrophic risk onto health insurance — and onto you, for everything health insurance does not cover (attendant care, mileage, many modifications, long rehab).
If you are on Medicare and thinking about Option 6, read the Medicare PIP post first. Medicare is secondary to auto no-fault when PIP medical is still payable.
LET OUR ATTORNEYS START YOUR CASE
If you or a loved one was injured in a crash, we can help sort which PIP limit applies, what the insurer owes, and whether a third-party claim is available.
Michigan No-Fault law is complicated, but finding the right car accident lawyer is simple.
Fill out the brief form below or call 1-800-CALL-SAM today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
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