Legislation clamping down on widespread sham medical clinics andstaged crash rings that are looting Florida's no-fault insurers wasintroduced in the state legislature March 16 (SB 1930 andHB 1411).

"These bills set up new roadblocks against fraud factories thatmass-produce bogus crash-injury claims. Dishonest clinics are quackshacks pretending to practice legitimate medicine while lootingauto insurers," Florida consumer advocate Walter Dartland, co-chairof the Sunshine Alliance to Erase Fraud, said.

The Sunshine Alliance is helping spearhead passage of thecompanion Senate and House bills. Florida insurers, consumeradvocates and law enforcement are jointly pursuing no-fault fraudreforms through the Sunshine Alliance. Co-chair Dartland also is aboard member of the Coalition Against InsuranceFraud.

"Floridians arepaying a 'fraud tax' on top of their car insurance every year andwill continue to do so unless we close loopholes in the system,"said State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, author of the Senate version. Rep.Jim Boyd is sponsor of the House version.

Among the provisions, the bills:

• Increase penalties for cheaters who illegally seekmedical-clinic licenses
• Provide insurers more time to investigate suspiciousclaims
• Confirm that insurers have a right to conduct examination underoaths and independent medical exams to uncover potential fraud
• Require responding police to list all passengers involved in acrash
• The House bill also would create a state authority toinvestigate and prosecute auto-insurance fraud.

Sham clinics and staged-crash rings are mass-producing bogusinjury claims. Large and often complex rings have spread rapidlythroughout Florida beyond their traditional strongholds in theMiami area in recent years. The Sunshine State thus has become thenation's epicenter for these schemes.

No-fault fraud will add about $1 billion in costs to Florida'sno-fault auto system by the end of 2011 if current trends continue,says the Insurance Information Institute. Fraud also imposes a "fraudtax" of nearly $100 on two-car families each year, the institutesays.

"I am serious about putting these crooks behind bars and eagerto implement reforms that will help reduce the fraud in our autoinsurance market that is costing Floridians hundreds of dollars ayear in increased premiums," said Jeff Atwater, Florida's ChiefFinancial Officer, who participates in the Sunshine Alliance.