Worker’s Compensation frauds committed by the employees consist only a small percentage of the total damages. Even though they are not as serious as the frauds committed by the employers and the healthcare providers, it is still a very significant issue. The two major ways of frauds committed by the employees are collecting medical and income benefits when they are not actually hurt and receiving income benefits to compensate for lost wages while working somewhere else3. Most of the cases that are reported revolve around the first method, but it does not mean that the other ways to scam should be treated lightly. According to Rod Rhem’s top ten Worker’s Compensation fraud cases from 2013 to 2015, employee frauds consists of $1.5 million in 20134, $450,000 in 20145, and $1.5 million in 20156.
The figures are already fairly significant with only the top ten in each year. Just imagine how much more damages did all of the other small fraud cases incurred. Even with the recent reform in Worker’s Compensation, such as the one in California which increased the coverage for employees and reduced …show more content…
As mentioned before, each individual state has their own takes on the Worker’s Compensation base on the Federal Acts. Some states are becoming more and more stricter on how an employee can file a claim for the injuries. For example, at least 11 states, including Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Virginia, require most or all sick workers to file claims within several years of their last hazardous exposure. However, many of the symptoms can take much longer to appear. So when the employees actually need the medical care and compensate for lost wages, they do not get it because it is outside of the filing window. More and more claims are denied due to tighter restrictions, so injured employees that were counting on Worker’s Compensation, which is supposed to be faster and cheaper than
The figures are already fairly significant with only the top ten in each year. Just imagine how much more damages did all of the other small fraud cases incurred. Even with the recent reform in Worker’s Compensation, such as the one in California which increased the coverage for employees and reduced …show more content…
As mentioned before, each individual state has their own takes on the Worker’s Compensation base on the Federal Acts. Some states are becoming more and more stricter on how an employee can file a claim for the injuries. For example, at least 11 states, including Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Virginia, require most or all sick workers to file claims within several years of their last hazardous exposure. However, many of the symptoms can take much longer to appear. So when the employees actually need the medical care and compensate for lost wages, they do not get it because it is outside of the filing window. More and more claims are denied due to tighter restrictions, so injured employees that were counting on Worker’s Compensation, which is supposed to be faster and cheaper than