S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                   786

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 9, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Labor

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  workers'  compensation  law, in relation to the
  assessment upon self-insurers,  the  state  insurance  fund,  and  all
  insurance carriers to fund the special disability fund

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subparagraph 4 of paragraph (h) of subdivision 8 of section
15 of the workers' compensation law, as amended by section 1 of part  QQ
of  chapter  56  of the laws of 2009, the opening paragraph, clause (A),
and clause (B) as amended by section 1 of part G of chapter  57  of  the
laws of 2011, and clause (B) as further amended by section 104 of part A
of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
  (4)  As  soon  as  practicable  after  May  first in the year nineteen
hundred fifty-eight, and annually  thereafter  as  soon  as  practicable
after  January  first  in  each  succeeding year, the chair of the board
shall assess upon and collect from all self-insurers, the  state  insur-
ance  fund,  and  all  insurance carriers (A) a sum equal to one hundred
[fifty] TEN per centum of the total disbursements made from the  special
disability  fund  during  the preceding calendar year (not including any
disbursements made on  account  of  anticipated  liabilities  or  waiver
agreements  funded  by  bond  proceeds  and  related earnings), less the
amount of the net assets in such fund as  of  December  thirty-first  of
said  preceding  calendar  year,  and (B) a sum sufficient to cover debt
service, and associated costs (the "debt service assessment") to be paid
during the calendar year by the dormitory authority,  as  calculated  in
accordance  with  subparagraph  five of this paragraph. Such assessments
shall be allocated to (i) self-insurers and  the  state  insurance  fund
based  upon  the proportion that the total compensation payments made by
all self-insurers and the state insurance fund bore to the total compen-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD03819-01-3

A. 786                              2

sation payments made by all self-insurers, the state insurance fund, and
all insurance carriers, and  (ii)  insurance  carriers  based  upon  the
proportion  that  the  total compensation payments made by all insurance
carriers  bore  to the total compensation payments by all self-insurers,
the state insurance fund and all insurance carriers  during  the  fiscal
year  which ended within said preceding calendar year.  Insurance carri-
ers and self-insurers shall be liable for all such  assessments  regard-
less of the date on which they came into existence, or whether they have
made  any  claim for reimbursement from the special disability fund. The
portion of such sum allocated to self-insurers and the  state  insurance
fund that shall be collected from each self-insurer and the state insur-
ance fund shall be a sum equal to the proportion of the amount which the
total  compensation  payments  of  each  such  self-insurer or the state
insurance fund bore to the total compensation payments made by all self-
insurers and the state insurance fund during the fiscal year which ended
within said preceding calendar year. The portion of such  sum  allocated
to insurance carriers that shall be collected from each insurance carri-
er shall be a sum equal to that proportion of the amount which the total
standard premium by each such insurance carrier bore to the total stand-
ard  premium reported by all insurance carriers during the calendar year
which ended within said preceding fiscal year.  The  payments  from  the
debt service assessment, unless otherwise set forth in the special disa-
bility  fund  financing agreement, are hereby pledged therefor and shall
be deemed the first monies received on account of  assessments  in  each
year.  For the purposes of this paragraph, "standard premium" shall mean
the premium as defined for the purposes of this assessment by the super-
intendent of financial services, in consultation with the chair  of  the
board  and  the  workers' compensation rating board. An employer who has
ceased to be a self-insurer shall continue to be liable for any  assess-
ments into said fund on account of any compensation payments made by him
or  her  on his or her account during such fiscal year, and the security
fund, created under the provisions of section one hundred seven of  this
chapter, shall, in the event of the insolvency of any insurance company,
be  liable  for  any  assessments that would have been made against such
company except for its insolvency. No assessment shall be  payable  from
the  aggregate trust fund, created under the provisions of section twen-
ty-seven of this article, but such fund shall continue to be liable  for
all  compensation  that shall be payable under any award or order of the
board, the commuted value of which has been paid into such fund.    Such
assessments  when  collected shall be deposited with the commissioner of
taxation and finance for the benefit  of  such  fund.  Unless  otherwise
provided,  such assessments, shall not constitute an element of loss for
the purpose of establishing rates for compensation insurance  but  shall
for  the purpose of collection be treated as separate costs by carriers.
All insurance carriers and the state insurance fund, shall collect  such
assessments,  from  their  policyholders  through  a  surcharge based on
premiums in accordance with rules set forth  by  the  superintendent  of
financial  services  in  consultation with the New York workers' compen-
sation rating board and the chair of the board. Such surcharge shall  be
considered  as part of premium for purposes prescribed by law including,
but not limited to, computing premium tax, reporting to the  superinten-
dent of financial services pursuant to section ninety-nine of this chap-
ter  and  section  three hundred seven of the insurance law, determining
the limitation of expenditures  for  the  administration  of  the  state
insurance  fund pursuant to section eighty-eight of this chapter and the
cancellation by an insurance  carrier,  including  the  state  insurance

A. 786                              3

fund,  of  a  policy  for non-payment of premium. The provisions of this
paragraph shall not apply with respect to policies  containing  coverage
pursuant to subsection (j) of section three thousand four hundred twenty
of  the  insurance  law relating to every policy providing comprehensive
personal liability insurance on a one, two, three or four family  owner-
occupied  dwelling.   The state insurance fund shall notify its insureds
that such assessments, shall be, for the purpose of recoupment,  treated
as  separate costs, for the purpose of premiums billed on or after Octo-
ber first, nineteen  hundred  ninety-four.  For  the  purposes  of  this
section,  a "self-insurer" shall be: (i) an employer authorized to self-
insure under subdivision three of section fifty of this chapter,  active
groups  authorized  pursuant  to subdivision three-a of section fifty of
this chapter or a group of employers  authorized  to  self-insure  under
paragraph  ten  of subdivision three-a of section fifty of this chapter;
or (ii) a public employer authorized as set  forth  in  paragraph  a  of
subdivision  four  of section fifty of this chapter to self-insure under
subdivision three, three-a or four of such section or  article  five  of
this chapter, whether individually or as a group.
  For  the purposes of this paragraph, except as otherwise provided: the
term "insurance carrier" shall include only stock  corporations,  mutual
corporations and reciprocal insurers authorized to transact the business
of  workers' compensation insurance in this state; the term "self-insur-
er" shall include any employer or group of employers  permitted  to  pay
compensation directly under the provisions of subdivision three, three-a
or four of section fifty of this chapter.
  The  board  is hereby authorized to issue credits or refunds as neces-
sary, in the case of overpayments made to the fund. An insurance carrier
that knowingly underreports premiums for the purposes  of  this  section
shall be guilty of a class E felony.
  S 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2014.