ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando has the 4th highest rate of insurance fraud in the nation, according state agents.
Just in 2011 state agents in Florida said they arrested 40 people in Orlando for staging car accidents and medical procedures.
WFTV learned that this is a crime that could cost taxpayers. Insurance companies make up the money they lose from fraud by raising their rates.
Officials said if you have car or health insurance, you are paying for what agents said happens inside clinics like the Bethel Health and Rehabilitation Center in Pine Hills.
It was open for business on Wednesday, but WFTV tried to get in and they shut the door. No one inside wanted to talk about a fraud ring agents said was run from the office.
A manager and two employees were arrested and accused of staging car crashes and sending false information to insurance companies. That's the same scan that officials said earned clinics across the state millions of dollars.
"They may have somebody in a white coat, but I wouldn't let them put a hand on me I'll guarantee you that," said John Askins, Director of insurance fraud for the state of Florida.
Askins said the scams that were once mostly found in Miami are heading north to Central Florida.
"Clinics we investigate are like carbon copies of each other," said Askins.
The cases are considered organized crime. Investigators said they are meeting with state leaders in Orlando to talk about how to get Florida out of the top spot when it comes to insurance fraud.
"We're talking about millions of dollars coming through clinics that frankly are providing no healthcare at all," said Jeff Atwater, Florida's Chief Financial Officer.
Atwater said he is working to dedicate more resources to the problem that he said ends up costing all consumers, even those who never step inside a clinic.
"Our Florida consumers are paying probably now over a billion dollars in fraud in their premiums," said Atwater.
The state said they rely a lot on tips from the community to find clinics committing fraud.
WFTV
