For the fourth straight year, Nevada County has applied successfully for a state grant to help combat workers compensation fraud, one of 44 counties this year. District Attorney Cliff Newell says the $75,000 funds a part-time investigator for 20 hours a week, regarding employee, employer, and doctor fraud…

click to listen to Cliff Newell

In a news release, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones says ultimately consumers and businesses pay the price, through higher premiums and increased costs for goods and services. Newell says the most common cases found locally, as well as other rural counties, is employees faking or exaggerating injuries…

click to listen to Cliff Newell

Newell says the second most common is employer premium fraud. He says no doctor fraud has been prosecuted in Nevada County so far. He says the grant has helped to reduce the problem, as more employees and employers become aware of the more assertive efforts. And there are also educational benefits.