By Tom Stebbins, Executive Director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York in Albany
New Yorkers pay some of the highest insurance premiums in the country from auto, to homeowners, to insuring our doctors and hospitals. News of a local regional insurer withdrawing from New York is just a small piece of the puzzle. The Empire State’s civil liability environment is among the most hostile, driving up costs for consumers while making millionaire trial lawyers ever richer.
Look no further than the epidemic of fraudulent claims plaguing our courts. Recent investigative reporting and Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization claims have uncovered an intricate insurance fraud scheme involving unscrupulous law firms, medical mills that coax vulnerable people into unnecessary surgeries, and shadowy lawsuit funders.
The lawyers and doctors recruit workers to stage construction site accidents, exploiting New York’s unique liability laws and lack of regulation around litigation financing to enrich themselves. The workers they recruit are left with nothing except a lifetime of pain and suffering from superfluous surgeries.
Lawmakers must avoid further expanding liability and, instead, crack down on these crime rings, fix the liability laws that make our courts a magnet for fraud and protect our most vulnerable from predatory lawsuit lenders. This will reduce costs down the line for insuring everything from housing to trucking to personal auto insurance. It’s the right thing to do.🀰
(PHOTO: LINKEDIN)
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