Insurance giant Allstate has filed 81 fraud lawsuits in New York since 2003, and the company recently filed another suit against 13 new corporations in an attempt to cover $2 million in damages from the no-fault healthcare firms and their owners, according to Claims Journal.
Among the individuals and companies named in the suit are New York City-based Haar Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, Paterson, N.J.-based Horizon Anesthesia Group, Paterson-based New Horizon Surgical Center, Whitestone, N.Y.-based NY Spine Physical Therapy and Fair Lawn, N.J.-based Alliance Spine Associates. The suit also names chiropractors and other healthcare providers.
Here are four things to know about the suit:
1. Allstate claims the defendants submitted invoices for reimbursement under the state's No-fault Law that were fraudulent and misleading, and that the invoices were not "entitled to be paid due to the services not being necessary or not being provided as billed."
2. The suit also claims the named providers steered New York-based patients to New Jersey-based New Horizon Surgical Center to bill and seek reimbursement under New York's No-fault Law.
3. Allstate along with other insurers have asked the state to reform the no-fault system.
4. While the current suit aims to recover $2 million, Allstate has sought more than $319 million in damages from similar suits over the past 15 years.