The California Department of Insurance has awarded $34.9 million in grants to 37 district attorney offices representing 44 counties across California to combat workers’ compensation insurance fraud.
The grants, funded through employer assessments, support law enforcement efforts in investigating and prosecuting workers’ compensation insurance fraud.
Workers’ compensation insurance fraud includes medical provider fraud, employer premium fraud, employer defrauding employee, insider fraud, claimant fraud, and the willfully uninsured operating in the underground economy. These cases, when successfully prosecuted, help level the playing field for honest businesses and discourage future fraudulent activity.
Grant funding is based on assessments from California insured and self-insured employers. California district attorneys apply for workers’ compensation insurance fraud grant funds. The commissioner’s panel reviews the applications and makes funding recommendations to the commissioner, based on multiple criteria, including past performance, the county’s problem statement, and their program strategy for the upcoming year. The panel makes a recommendation to the insurance commissioner, who either accepts or amends the panel’s recommendation. The commissioner’s recommendation is submitted to the Fraud Assessment Commission for their advice and consent, and then the grants are awarded.
This year the grants were distributed to the several counties as follows: