The Orange County District Attorney’s Office got a 10% boost in funding to combat what it calls rampant workers’ compensation fraud here, according to a spokeswoman with the state’s Insurance Department.
The OC office had sought $2.6 million to pay for lawyers and investigators to find workers’ comp fraud for the 12 months starting July 1, up 42% from the current year’s $1,766,121.
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi approved OC’s disbursement of $1,944,185, based on a recommendation submitted earlier this week by the workers’ compensation fraud assessment review panel.
The only counties in California set to receive more money than OC for fighting fraud were Los Angeles with $3.8 million and San Diego with $3.3 million, said Carrie R. Beckstein, the insurance department’s assistant press secretary.
Elizabeth A. Henderson, assistant district attorney in charge of the economic crimes unit in OC, was not available for immediate comment on the funding from the state. The funding comes from a portion of insurance premiums paid by employers.
The district attorney office needed the extra funding to bolster its investigation and prosecution of fraud at medical clinics in OC, which is considered the “epicenter” in the state for large-scale “fraud mills,” it said.
The office previously had stated that OC had the second highest number of suspected fraud claims in the state from 2002 to 2004.
The focus on enforcement has shifted dramatically.
OC’s legal system handled nearly $98 million in workers’ comp fraud from July 1 to April 15. That’s up from the $2.3 million in fraud reported in the same period a year earlier.
