It Figures

$40 Million

Increased amount in assessments levied on New York insurers as part of the Empire State’s 2008 budget, a 20 percent increase in the fees. The assessments come on top of a mandatory 2 percent premium tax that insurers already pay to the state’s General Fund. Fees paid by insurers now exceed $340 million, said the New York Insurance Association, up from $300 million last year.

$1 Million

Amount awarded as part of a settlement between a doctor and a New Jersey mother whose 19-year-old son died following gastric bypass surgery in 2003. The teen, who weighed 443 pounds before the procedure, lost 57 pounds when his stomach was reduced to the size of a golf ball. He died a month later.

7

Number of people, including two lawyers and two chiropractors, who were indicted by a Massachusetts grand jury for running a scheme to stage car accidents and collect insurance payments. According to the state attorney general’s office, the seven faked four accidents between 2002 and 2003 around Lawrence, Mass. Prosecutors allege three men were hired to stage the accidents; they would later seek legal help and treatment from the other four.

2

Number of the 32 renters in the vicinity of the Manhattan crane collapse who — when questioned by the New York Insurance Department — said they had tenant’s insurance. That figure amounts to roughly 6.25 percent, well below the estimated 43 percent of renters nationwide who buy the coverage. Insurance officials say the numbers underscore an alarming trend in high-priced New York City where renters cannot afford to cover their personal property.

1

Days following the launch of a Delaware teen driver training program that state officials discovered the program’s creator, Paul Burris, had a felony record that includes defrauding Florida’s Highway and Motor Vehicle Department. The state — which paid $14,000 to bring the course to Delaware — wants the driving classes to continue, albeit without Burris’s involvement.

Topics New York