What's happening
This bill prohibits imposing unreasonable or repetitive requirements on disabled individuals to receive contractual benefits, allowing legal action and damages for violations.
Why it matters
Directly targets “onerous or unreasonable” requirements. often imposed by companies in disability benefits contracts, such as repetitive medical exams or excessive paperwork, which frequently delay or discourage disabled individuals from accessing their entitled benefits.
Broadens legal accountability. to include not only insurers but any person, firm, or entity (except workers’ comp and state disability insurance) that enters into such contracts, making it harder for employers or private insurers to sidestep fair claims practices.
Empowers disabled individuals and beneficiaries. by granting the right to sue for actual damages, interest, penalties, legal costs, and potentially exemplary (punitive) damages, which increases the financial risk for violators and deters bad-faith tactics.
Incorporates standards from unfair claim settlement law. , linking contract enforcement to recognized protections against bad-faith or manipulative insurer conduct, and thereby reinforcing a higher standard of fair treatment in disability-related claims.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Stop Unfair Disability Benefit Barriers
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
2 Co-sponsors
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Ordered to third reading cal.210
- Advanced to third reading cal.499
- Reported
- Reported referred to codes
- Referred to judiciary
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Stop Disability Benefit Hurdles
In Senate Committee · Judiciary · Sponsor Kevin S. Parker
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2651
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 20, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, WEPRIN, KAVANAGH, SEAWRIGHT -- Multi- Sponsored by -- M. of A. CUSICK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the general obligations law, in relation to onerous or unreasonable conditions in the performance of disability related contracts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The general obligations law is amended by adding a new section 5-336 to read as follows:
§ 5-336. Performance of written contracts for benefits in the event of disability. 1. No person, firm, association, corporation or other entity, whether such person or entity be an employer or otherwise, excluding workers' compensation or New York state disability insurance, who enters into a written contract providing for payment of benefits or the waiver of obligations or both in the event of the disability of a named individual shall, by contract or otherwise, impose on a disabled person onerous or unreasonable conditions for the payment or continued payment of contractual benefits or the waiver or continued waiver of obligations. Conditions are "onerous or unreasonable" if by their continuous or repetitious nature they require the disabled beneficiary to perform unnecessary or duplicative acts in order to obtain or collect the benefits to which he or she is otherwise entitled under the contract and include but are not limited to:
(a) Requiring the disabled person to undergo unreasonably repetitive medical examinations; or
(b) Requiring the disabled person to provide finely-detailed or repetitious medical documentation of a disabling condition; or
(c) Bargaining in bad faith or engaging in any of the acts described in the paragraphs of subsection (a) of section two thousand six hundred one of the insurance law, relating to unfair claim settlement practices.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03551-01-7
A. 2651 2
2. Any party to the contract or contract beneficiary injured by an action or failure to act in violation of subdivision one of this section may maintain an action to recover and, upon proof of such injury due to violation of subdivision one of this section by a preponderance of the evidence, shall recover actual damages, including any interest and penalties incurred due to the violation of subdivision one of this section, and reasonable costs and attorney's fees. The court may in its discretion award exemplary damages.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.