Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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Several DFL and Republican state lawmakers have teamed up to try to stop insurance fraud in Minnesota.

They outlined a package of 11 measures today that will be introduced during the 2014 session. Criminal prosecution of insurance fraud is often difficult. But during a state Capitol news conference, Sen. Vicki Jensen, DFL-Owatonna, explained that one proposal would allow state commerce officials to impose civil penalties of up to $25,000 on people committing fraud.

“That is one of the things that deter and prevent people from committing those types of offenses,” Jensen said.

The proposed legislation would also toughen the penalties for insurance fraud, limit prescription drug reimbursements and restrict the release of accident reports to the general public. Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, said a measure to increase the sharing of information between law enforcement and the insurance industry will also reduce some bogus claims.

“If they don’t have good data sharing, it’s hard to track is this person trying to submit this claim two, three times,” Gazelka said. “After a while, the word gets out that you just can’t keep doing that.”

Both Gazelka and Jensen are insurance agents. They co-chaired a Senate working group that spent the past nine months studying fraud issues and developing recommendations.

Mark Kulda of the Insurance Federation of Minnesota said insurance fraud is on the rise, and costs an average Minnesota family about $1,400 a year in higher insurance premiums.

“It is not a victimless crime,” he said. ”Virtually everybody in the state of Minnesota pays the price for insurance fraud.”

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Tim Pugmire

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Several DFL and Republican state lawmakers have teamed up to try to stop insurance fraud in Minnesota. They outlined a package of 11 measures today that will be introduced during the 2014 session. Criminal prosecution of insurance fraud is often difficult. But during a state Capitol news conference, Sen. Vicki Jensen, DFL-Owatonna, explained that one 

Several DFL and Republican state lawmakers have teamed up to try to stop insurance fraud in Minnesota. They outlined a package of 11 measures today that will be introduced during the 2014 session. Criminal prosecution of insurance fraud is often difficult. But during a state Capitol news conference, Sen. Vicki Jensen, DFL-Owatonna, explained that one Read more →


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