WyoFile Publishes 2nd Feature On State Comp System, Focusing On Fraud, Unpaid Premiums
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | 0
In its second report on the state of Wyoming's workers' compensation industry, the nonprofit news website WyoFile has published a story on fraudulent claims and other financial strains on the system, including unpaid employer premiums.
State officials estimate employees defraud the workers' comp system at a rate consistent with the national average, which would make roughly 1% to 2% of claims fraudulent, WyoFile reported.
Few definitive figures were available when it came to the amount of workers' comp fraud actually committed yearly, though a recent state report cited by WyoFile said Wyoming's workforce department recovered $80,491.03 in total restitution from nine workers prosecuted between August 2015 and last month.
More data was available about the amount of workers' comp premiums left uncollected: 171 employers currently owe a combined $604,000 in past-due premiums, WyoFile said.
Since 1995, a total of 822 employers that have since gone out of business have failed to pay $2.7 million in premiums, the news site reported.
Asked which strained workers' compensation more -- employees filing fraudulent claims or employers failing to pay premiums -- the head of the state workers' comp fraud investigation division told WyoFile she couldn't say for sure.
“I don’t have any data, so I couldn’t answer that question," Jennifer Wilch said.
The story claims workers' comp fraud by employees "receives the majority of investigative and prosecutorial resources" from the workers' comp fraud investigation unit.
The unit tends to receive more tips about employee fraud than it does about provider or employer fraud, an administrator for Wyoming Workforce Services' Office of Standards and Compliance told WyoFile.
To read the full story, click here. To read the first story in WyoFile's workers' compensation series, about how the state workers' comp fund has added $800 million since 2008, click here.
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