HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Oct. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Allstate Insurance
Company is seeking to recover $4.5
million against five medical doctors, seven chiropractors
and ten professional medical corporations along with one non
professional in a scheme to allegedly bill insurance companies
fraudulently for procedures, including procedures that were
medically unnecessary and/or inappropriate. Since 2003, Allstate
has filed 32 fraud lawsuits in New York
State, seeking more than $175
million in damages.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, the state of
New York is in an insurance fraud
crisis and no-fault fraud is costing New Yorkers hundreds of
millions of dollars year-after-year. "In essence, honest,
hardworking New Yorkers are paying a "fraud
tax," said Krista Conte,
spokesperson for Allstate's New
York office. "We need lawmakers to enact meaningful
insurance reform that puts the citizens of New York first."
Allstate has filed counterclaims and a third party complaint
alleging that two New York medical
professional corporations – Cambridge Medical P.C. and Pine Hollow
Medical, P.C. – were fraudulently incorporated through a scheme
using the names of licensed medical physicians, and that a
lay-owner, who was not a physician, secretly owned and controlled
the medical professional corporations. Allstate's counterclaims and
third party complaint further allege that these corporations
fraudulently billed Allstate Insurance Company.
Cambridge had filed an action
seeking to recover billing from Allstate and Allstate responded
with its counterclaims and third party complaint. Allstate's claims
were filed following an investigation by Allstate's Special
Investigative Unit and seek reimbursement for personal injury
protection benefits Allstate paid on behalf of its customers during
time frames specified in the counterclaims and third party
complaint. The counterclaims and third party complaint are the
latest in a string of actions taken by the insurer to protect
consumers from these and similar activities.
For more information on the dangers of insurance fraud, and how
you can help fight it, please visit Fraud Costs NY at
www.i-issues.com/new-york.
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest
publicly held personal lines insurer known for its "You're In Good
Hands With Allstate®" slogan. Now celebrating its 80th anniversary
as an insurer, Allstate is reinventing protection and retirement to
help nearly 16 million households insure what they have today and
better prepare for tomorrow. Consumers access Allstate insurance
products (auto, home, life and retirement) and services through
Allstate agencies, independent agencies, and Allstate exclusive
financial representatives in the U.S. and Canada, as well as via www.allstate.com and
1-800 Allstate®.
SOURCE Allstate Insurance Company