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Terry Lisotta, former CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. was sentenced to 30 months in prison for improperly spending more than $29,000 of the company’s money on lavish meals, trips, sports tickets and his daughter’s prom party. He also was ordered to pay back $25,557. Lisotta, 54, of Metairie, pleaded guilty in March to one count of theft by fraud of more than $500. He had been indicted on 14 counts after state audits from 2003 to 2006 claimed Lisotta racked up thousands of dollars in questionable expenses not connected to running Citizens. Lisotta’s lawyer, David Courcelle, said he’s considering an appeal of both the length of the sentence and the amount of restitution ordered. But he also said Lisotta was ready to serve his sentence and move on with his life.

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), through its partnership with the Dallas County District Attorney’s office, has obtained indictments of 29 individuals for insurance fraud, with eight cases still pending before the Dallas County Grand Jury. The indictments involve approximately $1.25 million in losses to insurers and consumers. The offenses that prompted investigation include workers’ compensation fraud, staged slip and fall accidents, disability insurance fraud, health insurance fraud, and false reports of vehicle theft by owners, in addition to cases of premium theft and fraud by agents against insurance companies and consumers. The TDI/Dallas County DA anti-fraud initiative began six years ago.

75%

Cambridge, Mass.-based Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) says the cost per claim of prescription drugs used to treat injured workers in Louisiana is higher than in other states. The average payment per claim for prescription drugs in the Louisiana workers’ compensation system was $721 – 75 percent higher than the median of the 16 states in a study conducted by WCRI. The main reasons for the higher prescription costs in Louisiana include higher utilization of prescription drugs, higher prices paid to pharmacies, more frequent prescriptions of brand name drugs, and higher prices paid to physicians who dispensed medications directly to their patients.

Topics Fraud Workers' Compensation Louisiana