In the battle to save money on car insurance, the people in Michigan just got slammed with a new setback.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that effective July 1, 2010, drivers in Michigan will have to pay more than ever – $143.09 per each vehicle insured – to pay for the medical care of people who are severely injured in traffic accidents.

The new payment is $18.20 more than the current payment, and the money goes to the Michigan Catastrophic Claim Association (MCCA), an organization which covers the costs of automobile accident medical claims that total more than $480,000. This year’s assessment is the largest since 1978, when the MCCA was originally created. The annual fee was raised on April 1st in order to cover an expected $2 billion deficit caused by a combination of decreased investment income and increase medical care costs.

In 2009, a representative of the MCCA said, the organization, which is comprised of several insurance companies, had to pay out $811 million for catastrophic injuries. This year, it estimates that 1,200 more injured people will qualify for their coverage.

Michigan is the only state in the country that requires car insurance to cover unlimited medical costs. The MCAA was created to help share the load of exceptionally large claims.