Anti-Fraud Bills Progress In Two States

By Matt Brady

NU Online News Service, April 7, 4:24 p.m. EDT?Legislation to stiffen the penalties for those committing insurance fraud is moving through the legislatures of two states.

In Indiana, yesterday the state Senate voted to approve House Bill 1403, which would expand the state's insurance anti-fraud laws by covering more crimes and increasing the penalties for those convicted.

The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Andrew Thomas, R-Brazil, and has already been passed by the House. It will return to the House for a procedural review, and is expected to be signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

"Indiana finally has a law that's strong enough to have real deterrent value and impose fair punishment for swindles that cause widespread damage," said Howard Goldblatt, director of government affairs for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, an alliance of insurers, consumer groups and state agencies to combat fraud.

Indiana's current law, the Coalition noted, are weak to the point that prosecutors rarely use them. In fact, Rep. Thomas himself is a former prosecutor who has never tried an insurance fraud case, the coalition said.

Currently, the state's insurance fraud laws only encompass the filing of bogus claims and impose a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Under HB 1403, additional swindles, such as the theft of premiums by agents or the sale of fake coverage, would also become criminal offenses, and the penalties would be increased to a maximum of eight years in jail and a $100,000 maximum fine.

Should HB 1403 be signed into law, Mr. Goldblatt said, prosecutors would be more likely to bring cases to trial and increase the number of fraud convictions, in addition to serving as a disincentive to those who would commit fraud.

"Fraud cases are competing with violent crimes such as murder and rape for a prosecutor's attention," he said. "Many fraud cases will go to trial only if it's worth a prosecutor's time," he said.

Also yesterday members of the Florida House insurance committee approved legislation that would impose a two-year minimum prison sentence for the filing of a police report after a fabricated accident.

The measure would also require health clinics to post the number for the state Fraud Buster hotline and reward information for reporting fraud. The bill, proposed by Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, was passed by a vote of 15-0, with five members not voting. A companion bill in the Senate by state Sen. J.D. Alexander was passed 10-0 by a Senate committee on Tuesday.

The Florida bill has the support of state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, who appeared with Rep. Cannon earlier in the week to push for its passage.

Florida requires drivers to carry at least $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection coverage and $10,000 in property damage liability coverage, Mr. Gallagher noted, adding that, "this coverage is intended to protect our citizens by ensuring immediate access to medical care, and ensuring that hospitals ? where most legitimate accident victims seek care ? are reimbursed."

"Instead, fake medical clinics are springing up for the sole purpose of fraudulently billing insurance companies," Mr. Gallagher added. "We have to stop that and need the help of every law-abiding Floridian to do that."

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Anti-Fraud Bills Progress In Two States

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