Doctors for Sale, a 1996 article by Portland's Willamette Week, details what are known as IME's, Independent Medical Exams, and Insurance Medical Evaluations. Although the report is from 1996, and the fees charged for IME's have risen dramatically since, this article intelligently and thoroughly details this "profitable" business whose income comes from insurance companies and employers.

AIG defrauds Oregon's injured workers and state government
On July 5, 2007, Oregon regulators imposed $5 million in fines against a group of nine companies under the American International Group umbrella for mishandling workers' compensation claims and failing to accurately report premium and claims data to the state. If AIG starts obeying the law - like everyday people are expected to - the insurance company will only pay $1 million of the fine to the state.

Lawyer fends off flurry of new lawsuits
An attorney working for Wausau Insurance Co. is accused of altering an illegally recorded tape and attempting to get endorsement of a $51,000 check from Wausau for attendant care that never took place in an attempt to give the impression that a worker and his attorney were committing workers' compensation fraud.

Florida Firm Fined $54,000 For Workers' Comp Violation
Herston Engineering Services Inc. failed to provide workers' compensation insurance coverage for six workers employed at the time of the investigation.

Volz resigns as state labor commissioner
Minnesota's Labor and Industry Commissioner forced to resign for failure to provide workers' compensation insurance to employees in her business.

Coal bosses devastate workers' comp pay
After years of cheating and obstruction by the West Virginia coal bosses, a dozen major coal producers agreed to pay nearly $50 million in delinquent workers' compensation premiums. The $50 million is a far cry from the $406 million that coal companies owe to the Workers' Compensation Fund.

Fine proposed against temp agency
Labor Ready, the nation's leading provider of temporary workers for the light industrial and small business markets, is fined $49,500 by Oregon's BOLI for prevailing wage violations. Washington state labor officials fine them $734,000 for misclassifying workers to avoid paying workers' compensation premiums. Note: Oregon officials have a pattern of negotiating down these penalties substancially. Click here to read more on misclassification fraud.

Riscorp insurance company founder Bill Griffin received a five-month federal prison sentence in August 1998 for his part in a six-year conspiracy involving 800 illegal political contributions worth nearly $400,000 to 27 political candidates who could help his workers' compensation insurance company. Florida Insurance Commissioner Tom Gallagher received the most in illegal campaign contributions and Katherine Harris (now Florida Secretary of State) received more than $20,000 from Riscorp. [Link 2]

A pariah when injured
A "company doctor" writes about abuse, denial of treatment, and retribution by employers against workers who file workers' compensation claims.

Putting a Premium on Patriotism. Many of the people killed or injured at the World Trade Center and Pentagon were covered by workers comp, but not in Florida. Insurers in seeking a rate increase use the argument that they could have been.

Making a Killing: HMOs and the Threat to Your Health. This scathing exposé presents case histories of those who have lost their health or their lives because an HMO denied or delayed vital treatments, tests or surgery.

California's Workers' Compensation Anti-Fraud Program is detailed in this report by Del Information Services. The program is funded by employer contributions and insurance companies control the money released to district attorney's thoughout the state. The report details how fraud committed by insurers has been ignored by prosecutors.