BILL NUMBER:S5108               REVISED 08/12/10

TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to payment
of disability benefits

PURPOSE:
To require that injured workers receiving disability benefits under
article 9 of the workers' compensation law be given reasonable time to
respond to any inquiry that requires timely response in order to avoid
a disruption in benefits, and clear notice of the consequences of
failure to respond.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 1 of section 208 of the
workers' compensation law, to require that when timely payment of
disability benefits under article 9 of the workers' compensation law
is contingent on the recipient's timely response to an inquiry from
the insurer, the insurer shall provide a reasonable time period for
response, and clear notice of the consequences of failing to respond
by the deadline. Section 2 of the bill sets forth the effective dale.

JUSTIFICATION:
It is unacceptable for injured workers receiving benefits under the
workers' compensation law (WCL) to suffer any delay or lapse in
payment for failure to follow requirements that are not disclosed to
              

them. Too often, insurers send injured workers written requests for
information but fail to provide a reasonable period in which to
respond, or any indication that failure to respond could result in a
delay in benefits. Recipients accustomed to regular direct deposit of
benefit checks, for example, who have no reason to expect a problem,
incur hundreds of dollars in penalties for bounced checks and worse
for missing the response deadline, Recovering from this kind of
disruption can be particularly difficult for recipients relying on
their benefits as a primary or sole source of income.

Currently the WCL does not require advance notice of a potential
disruption in benefits for failure to timely respond to an inquiry.
This bill would correct that omission for recipients of benefits under
the disability benefits law (article 9 of the WCL), which provides
cash benefits to partially replace wages lost due to injuries or
illnesses that do not arise out of or in the course of employment
insurance benefits to unemployed workers to replace unemployment
insurance benefits lost because of illness.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2009: A.00691 (Kavanagh) - Labor
2008: A.07522 (Kavanagh) - Labor
2007: A.07522 (Kavanagh) - Labor
2006: A.08266 (Grannis)  - Labor
2005: A.08266 (Grannis)  - Labor

FISCAL IMPACT ON THE STATE:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:


This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after enactment.