Over HALF A MILLION Saved by New York Workers Compensation Fund

Approximately 185,000 employers have workers' comp insurance policies with NYSIF, making up about 36 percent of the New York market. Employers cannot be too vigilant in controlling fraud and taking appropriate action in fraud prevention and reporting. A Case Study Pair Arrested on Workers Comp Fraud Charges Two claimants who allegedly returned to work while collecting workers' compensation benefits were arrested on fraud charges in separate investigations initiated by the New York State Insurance Fund involving a potential combined future savings of nearly $600,000. The first worker, was arrested by Utica Police as part of a warrant sweep. He is charged with felonies including insurance fraud, perjury, offering a false instrument for filing and fraudulent practices. Investigators said surveillance allegedly the man working as a carpenter during the same time period he collected wage replacement benefits for an injury he said he sustained as a carpenter in 1999, for which he allegedly collected $10,200 in benefits he was not entitled to by returning signed statements to NYSIF stating he had not returned to work since the injury. He allegedly also denied any employment in sworn testimony before the Workers' Compensation Board. The worker, classified with a "temporary total" disability, could have received up to $60,411 over the life of his claim, which is the amount investigators estimated as the potential future savings in his case. In a separate case, Rochester State Police a second workers charging him with insurance fraud, offering a false instrument for filing, grand larceny and violating the Workers' Compensation Law – all felonies. Investigators said this worker received workers' comp benefits for an abdomen injury he claimed in 2006 while working for a Rochester based company, allegedly receiving $4,673 in benefits he was not entitled to by returning to work for another Rochester company while returning signed statements to NYSIF saying he had not returned to any form of work. (workersxzcompxzkit) As a result this arrest, NYSIF estimated the potential future savings of $525,743 the man could have received over the life of his claim. Author: Robert Elliott, J.D.