California Counties to Receive $30 Million To Fight Workers’ Comp Fraud

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced nearly $30 million in grants will be awarded to local county district attorneys to help combat workers’ compensation fraud.

“In this struggling economy, it is more important than ever to make it easy for businesses to stay and expand in the state. Because fraud drives up the costs of workers’ compensation insurance, we must continue to be vigilant in our battle with those who dishonestly and illegally take advantage of the system,” Poizner said.

Funding for the grants is the result of an assessment on employers as determined by the Fraud Assessment Commission. Counties apply annually for these grants. The applications are reviewed by the Workers’ Compensation Grant Review Panel based on a number of criteria, including the previous year’s performance. The panel makes a recommendation to the Insurance Commissioner, who can accept or amend the panel’s recommendation. At that point, the Insurance Commissioner’s final decision must be ratified by the Fraud Assessment Commission.

The following counties are scheduled to received funding:

• Alameda $1.3 million
• Amador $460,000
• Butte $200,000
• Contra Costa $600,000
• El Dorado $275,000
• Fresno $1.2 million
• Humboldt $240,000
• Imperial $65,000
• Kern $900,000
• Kings $282,673
• Los Angeles $5 million
• Madera $46,185
• Marin $200,000
• Mendocino $70,000
• Merced $150,000
• Monterey $500,000
• Orange $3.1 million
• Riverside 1.1 million
• Sacramento $900,000
• San Bernardino $2.2 million
• San Diego $4.8 million
• San Francisco $775,000
• San Joaquin $580,000
• San Luis Obispo $94,000
• San Mateo $525,000
• Santa Barbara $300,000
• Santa Clara $2.2 million
• Santa Cruz $125,000
• Shasta $162,127
• Siskiyou $26,170
• Solano $175,000
• Sonoma $98,735
• Tehama $30,556
• Tulare $317,950
• Tuolumne $20,000
• Ventura $724,615
• Yolo $172,591

For more information, visit www.insurance.ca.gov.

Source: CDI