A Boca Raton osteopathic physician Dr. Max Citrin has been charged with insurance fraud for allegedly copying and pasting false symptoms for his patients. Citrin was charged with three felonies for submitting fraudulent claims to Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna and Humana, totaling nearly 1 million dollars.
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Filed under Fraud, Healthcare
Farmers Insurance now provides commercial auto insurance to its Uber drivers in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia. Ridesharing drivers in Pennsylvania and Georgia were already covered.
Farmers is the second insurer to announce the expansion of its relationship with Uber. Liberty Mutual started covering Uber drivers and passengers on December 31, 2019.
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Filed under Personal Injury Protection (PIP), Technology
Understanding the future of insurance in a world of autonomous vehicles is highly relevant for insurance carriers today. Auto insurance, like cyber insurance and new parametric products, will impact traditional lines of business with the rise of autonomous vehicle technology. Most carrier executives point to it as the industry’s key prospective destabilizer.
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Filed under Technology
Tesla announced the launched of its own insurance and claims that it will provide customers with lower rates because of the safety features in its vehicles. According to Tesla, “because Tesla knows its vehicles best, Tesla Insurance is able to leverage the advanced technology, safety, and serviceability of our cars to provide insurance at a lower cost.”
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Filed under Technology
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently released results from its investigation into a minor collision involving an autonomous shuttle bus and a commercial truck in 2017. No one was injured in the crash; however, the incident did highlight some autonomous vehicle risks.
The autonomous shuttle operates on a predetermined route but does not have a steering wheel, brake pedal, or accelerator pedal. The attendant could only operate the shuttle using a hand-held controller which was not easily accessible when the incident occurred. A new policy was implemented that made the controller more accessible throughout a trip.
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Filed under Technology
There have been many significant advances in autonomous vehicle technology around the world. Among those was a bill that was recently passed in Florida, allowing AV systems to operate on the streets without a human driver. Safety is among the main factors driving and slowing down the development of AV technology.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 94% of serious auto accidents are due to human error. However, autonomous vehicles have some of the same issues that people encounter. AV technology can be affected by weather, road markings, etc. that confuses the AV cameras and lasers, making it difficult to navigate certain areas.
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Filed under Technology
Williston’s Regional General Hospital has been allegedly involved in a $57 million fraud scheme with Jacksonville businessman Kyle Marcotte. Marcotte ran a urine testing operation which used Regional General and another hospital to bill insurance companies. Marcotte has agreed to plead guilty on charges of money laundering.
Regional General lost its hospital license but still operates a clinical lab. The hospital is now being investigated for fraud in connection with Marcotte’s charges and an unnamed person who “exercised control” over the hospital.
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Filed under Fraud
According to WINK News of Fort Myers, FL, twenty-four people are accusing Campbell Roofing and Sheet Metal of Cape Coral of taking deposits for roofing jobs, starting the work and abandoning the jobs. In some cases, the roofer never started the job at all.
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Filed under Fraud, Property (Homeowners)
Kissimmee elementary school teacher, Lanfranco Palman, is facing three felony charges for allegedly faking being hit by a car to defraud his insurance company. The staged accident occurred at a grocery store in 2016 where Palman claimed he was hit by a vehicle, but witnesses say he fell onto the hood after the car had stopped.
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Filed under Fraud
Tondra Shenika Roberts was arrested for allegedly setting her car on fire on Christmas Eve. According to police reports, Roberts said the vehicle was supposed to be repossessed and she left the keys inside in case someone showed up to take it.
Investigators found the key in the ignition of the abandoned car as well as a box of matches on the driver’s seat and an empty Heineken bottle with a paper towel inside of it. Lab reports from the car came back positive for gasoline. Roberts said she filed an insurance claim for the damage.
Roberts is facing felony charges of arson and burning to defraud an insurer.
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Filed under Fraud
