State Rep. Brenda Carter (D-Pontiac) testifies before the Insurance and Financial Services Committee.

State Rep. Brenda Carter (D-Pontiac) testifies before the Insurance and Financial Services Committee on the insurance fraud package on May 16, 2024, at the House Office Building in Lansing.

 

LANSING, Mich., May 17, 2024 — The House Insurance and Financial Services Committee passed a series of bills yesterday aimed at protecting consumers from insurance fraud. House Bills 5191-97 amend the Insurance Code, giving DIFS additional enforcement tools to address insurance fraud.

“Insurance fraud is a crime, plain and simple. We all pay the costs in higher premiums when fraud is committed. This package aims to hold anyone who commits insurance fraud accountable, regardless of where they fit in the insurance equation,” said state Rep. Brenda Carter (D-Pontiac), chair of the committee and bill sponsor of HBs 5191 and 5192 in the package. 

The bill package also enhances criminal liabilities for individuals who commit fraud by omitting certain information for a more favorable rate of coverage, or individuals who file false statements to collect insurance money.

“As insurance fraud becomes more sophisticated and technologically complex, we must adapt our policies to reflect the greater risks we all face,” Carter said. “Insurance fraud is costly. Accordingly, $80 billion a year, a conservative estimate, is lost to insurance fraud each year, with property-related insurance fraud costing about $34 billion each year alone.”

The bills in the insurance fraud package include:

  • HB 5191 — (Rep. B. Carter) updates several insurance fraud related offenses in the Code of Criminal Procedure to reflect the penalties.
  • HB 5192 — (Rep. B. Carter) allows information on suspected insurance fraud to be shared with the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
  • HB 5193 — (Rep. C. Neeley) subjects auto insurers that provide personal protection insurance (PIP) coverage to state anti-kickback laws.
  • HB 5194 — (Rep. M. Harris) adds insurance fraud to the definition of racketeering.
  • HB 5195 — (Rep. M. McFall) increases the penalties for insurance fraud.
  • HB 5196 — (Rep. J. Aragona) allows civil fines for insurance fraud violations.
  • HB 5197 — (Rep. J. Fitzgerald) – adds additional reporting requirements for insurers report suspected insurance fraud to the Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

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