California Senate Bill SB156 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 156AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 20, 2009 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senator Wright FEBRUARY 12, 2009 An act to add Section  1873.5   1879.1  to the Insurance Code, relating to insurance fraud. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 156, as amended, Wright. Insurance: fraud prevention and detection. Existing law generally provides for the prevention, detection, and investigation of insurance fraud. Under existing law, insurers are required to disclose to an authorized governmental agency information relative to incidents of workers' compensation fraud, as specified. This bill would authorize the Department of Insurance or a district attorney to convene meetings with  insurers   an insurance company  to discuss  emerging trends and schemes involving   a specific  insurance fraud and would provide that any person sharing information pursuant to that authorization would be protected from civil liability, as specified. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following: (a) The California Department of Insurance regulates more than 123 billion dollars ($123,000,000,000) of insurance business annually. Workers' compensation business  accounts   accounted  for 11.5 billion dollars ($11,500,000,000) of that business as of 2006. (b) A report issued by the Department of Insurance Advisory Task Force in May of 2008 estimated that insurance fraud of regulated businesses amounts to costs of 15 billion dollars ($15,000,000,000) per year, costing each resident an average of more than five hundred dollars ($500) per year. (c) Perpetrators  of fraud often involved   often defraud  more than one insurance program. An effective antifraud effort requires greater cooperation, coordination, and communication of impacted insurers, services, and regulating agencies.  (d) One effective strategy used by the Medicaid and Medi-Cal programs to combat fraud involves sending an explanation of benefits notice to the recipients of services who can then confirm if fraudulent or excessive billing has occurred. California's workers' compensation program does not provide this notice which many employers and law enforcement officials believe could help reduce incidents of fraudulent billing.   (e)   (d)  It is the intent of the Legislature to enact statutory provisions to provide law enforcement regulators and the regulated community additional insurance antifraud tools and protections.  SEC. 2.   Section 1873.5 is added to the Insurance Code, to read: 1873.5. The commissioner, his or her designated deputy   SEC. 2.   Section 1879.1 is added to the   Insurance Code   , to read:   1879.1.  The commissioner, his or her designated deputy  commissioner,  or  a district attorney, or his or her designated deputy district attorney, may convene meetings with representatives of  insurance companies   an insurance company  to discuss  emerging trends and schemes involving   a specific  insurance fraud. Information shared during the course of those meetings  , including possible evidence of other criminal activity not involving   that is related to a specific  insurance fraud  ,  shall be protected by the provisions of Section 1873.2.