It’s remarkable how states can pick up a reputation and how difficult it is to shake it off. So mention auto fraud and, without a moment’s thought, most people will say Florida is the capital of fraud. Who would have thought the home of oranges, essentially harmless fruit, could so quickly become associated with rampant crime. Yet, just as snow birds fly south in the winter months, so the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) cover has attracted the fraudsters and scam artists. This creates a major dilemma for whoever happens to be in power. In the heart of every politician is the understanding voters like a plan that pays for their medical treatment should they have the misfortune to be caught up in a traffic accident. No matter what you might think about the cost, people want access to effective treatment without having to pay large amounts out of their own pockets. The perennial difficulty is therefore to find a way to reform the system to keep its advantages but avoid the crippling costs. Just so you understand the scale of the problem, there has been a drop in the number of accidents in Florida in each of the last three years yet, over the same period, the cost of claims has risen $900 million to $2.45 billion.

You will know this cost is divided among all insured drivers as a part of the premium. Just imagine how large the reduction in the rates would be if the fraud could be eliminated. The latest proposal is to require all the victims of traffic accidents to go to an ER. As it is, a team of “professional” drivers can be seen involved in an accident at a street corner. Innocent witnesses will confirm the reality of the accident and “pain clinics” will offer medical evidence of the injuries. When payment is received, the cash is divided among the participants and they move on to the next fraud. If it was a condition of a claim for personal injuries that a team of ER specialists had to certify the reality and extent of injuries, the politicians believe the number of dishonest claims would fall. This assumes no doctors who work in ERs could ever be dishonest and, for a fee, certify non-existent injuries. But, more seriously, the problem is numbers.

At present, ERs are drowning in too many patients. People without health insurance wait until their problems are an emergency and then turn up for treatment. If politicians make it a condition that thousands of additional drivers and their passengers also attend the ERs so that any injuries can be documented, imagine what would happen. This is not to say people with serious injuries should not be seen at an ER. That’s what happens now. It’s only right people should get the best possible treatment in hospitals. But the idea of suddenly sending in all the other people with relatively minor injuries will break the system. The only way the hospitals could cope would be by dramatically expanding their facilities and staff. Who would pay this additional cost? Auto insurance quotes might fall but health insurance costs would rise. So when you are thinking about cheap car insurance, do not hope for mandatory visits to the ER.