What's happening
This bill amends workers' compensation law to specify that compensation periods begin at the date of injury and addresses payment rate differences between temporary and permanent disabilities.
Why it matters
Clarifies when benefit periods start. By explicitly stating that benefit periods for permanent partial disability begin at the date of injury, the bill provides greater certainty for workers and employers about when compensation timelines are calculated, potentially reducing confusion and disputes.
Adjusts retroactive compensation differences. The bill requires that any difference between temporary and permanent disability compensation rates (once a worker is reclassified) must be settled by either paying out or crediting the appropriate amount in weekly installments, ensuring fair and accurate payment adjustments for injured workers.
Potential impact on claims administration. These changes could streamline claims processing and benefit calculations, reducing administrative delays and providing more predictable outcomes for both claimants and employers.
May affect employer costs and worker benefits. By clarifying payment schedules and rate adjustments, this amendment could influence the overall costs borne by employers and the timing and amount of benefits received by injured workers, potentially impacting both financial planning for businesses and financial security for injured employees.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Injured workers with permanent partial disabilities
The bill would start the maximum benefit periods for covered claims at the date of injury, affecting when their compensation would end.
Employers and workers’ compensation insurers
The bill would anchor benefit limits to the injury date and require employers to pay or receive weekly adjustments for differences between temporary disability payments and the rate after permanent disability classification.
New York State Workers’ Compensation Board
The board would apply the injury-date starting point across all twelve benefit-duration tiers for the permanent partial disability claims covered by this provision.
Headline styles
Change Disability Payment Schedule
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to labor
- Referred to labor
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4520
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 16, 2017
Introduced by Sen. AKSHAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to the schedule of compensation in case of disability
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph w of subdivision 3 of section 15 of the workers' compensation law, as amended by chapter 6 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
w. Other cases. In all other cases of permanent partial disability, the compensation shall be sixty-six and two-thirds percent of the difference between the injured employee's average weekly wages and his or her wage-earning capacity thereafter in the same employment or otherwise. Compensation under this paragraph shall be payable during the continuance of such permanent partial disability, but subject to reconsideration of the degree of such impairment by the board on its own motion or upon application of any party in interest however, all compensation payable under this paragraph shall not exceed (i) five hundred twenty-five weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than ninety-five percent; (ii) five hundred weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than ninety percent but not more than ninety-five percent; (iii) four hundred seventy-five weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than eighty-five percent but not more than ninety percent; (iv) four hundred fifty weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than eighty percent but not more than eighty-five percent; (v) four hundred twenty-five weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than seventy-five percent but not more than eighty percent; (vi) four hundred
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09483-01-7
S. 4520 2
weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than seventy percent but not more than seventy-five percent; (vii) three hundred seventy-five weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than sixty percent but not more than seventy percent; (viii) three hundred fifty weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than fifty percent but not more than sixty percent; (ix) three hundred weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wageearning capacity is greater than forty percent but not more than fifty percent; (x) two hundred seventy-five weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than thirty percent but not more than forty percent; (xi) two hundred fifty weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is greater than fifteen percent but not more than thirty percent; and (xii) two hundred twenty-five weeks, beginning at the date of injury, in cases in which the loss of wage-earning capacity is fifteen percent or less. For those claimants classified as permanently partially disabled who no longer receive indemnity payments because they have surpassed their number of maximum benefit weeks, the following provisions will apply:
(1) There will be a presumption that medical services shall continue notwithstanding the completion of the time period for compensation set forth in this section and the burden of going forward and the burden of proof will lie with the carrier, self-insured employer or state insurance fund in any application before the board to discontinue or suspend such services. Medical services will continue during the pendency of any such application and any appeals thereto.
(2) The board is directed to promulgate regulations that establish an independent review and appeal by an outside agent or entity of the board's choosing of any administrative law judge's determination to discontinue or suspend medical services before a final determination of the board.
(3) Any difference in compensation rate paid during a period of temporary disability and the rate of payment after classification of permanent disability shall be paid by the employer or credited to the employer in weekly installments during the continuance of payments for such permanent partial disability.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to the schedule of compensation in case of disability
Purpose
To ensure that an injured worker's schedule of compensation begins on the date of their specified injury.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends to workers' compensation law to include that in all cases of permanent partial disability, compensation shall be calculated beginning on the specific date of injury.
Read the full memo (715 words)
Section 1 paragraph three states that any difference in compensation rate paid during a period of temporary disability and the rate of payment after classification of permanent disability shall be paid by the employer or credited to the employer in weekly installments during the continuance of payments for such permanent partial disability.
Section 2 is the effective date.
Justification
According Oliver Wyman's Review of Current Workers Compensation Costs and the Oregon Department of Business and Consumer Services biannual study, New York is consistently ranked among the highest workers' compensation rates in the nation.
Last year, after the NYS Department of Financial Services approved a 9.3% increase in workers' compensation loss costs, premiums soared, some as high as 38%.
These unsustainable rates are a reflection of a 10-year-old reform with flaws in need of repair.
One of the major changes in the 2007 workers' compensation reform agreement was more than doubling the maximum weekly benefit, indexed to the average weekly wage, from $400 to $852 for durational caps on permanent partial disability (PPD) claims. However, this change did not have the intended benefits on reducing costs.
After the 2007 workers' compensation reform agreement, the percentage of Lost Time (LT) claims identified as either PPD or temporary total disability (TTD) claims with durations lasting longer than 52 weeks began to increase, from 48% in 2007 to 59%. in 2011. While some claims will close with no permanent partial benefits (categorized as TTD), many claims currently classified as TTD will ultimately become permanent partial disability (PPD) claims. For these claims, the period of time on total disability before receiving an impairment rating or scheduled loss of use award is referred to as the "healing period."
The average time from the date of injury to the date of disability rating in New York has increased to over 8 years after the 2007 reforms. Due to some efforts by the workers' compensation board, that number has come down to about 4.5 years, still longer than anticipated by the 2007 legislation.
The magnitude of the increase to "healing periods" since 2007 can be illustrated by considering a $600 per week benefit paid for an additional 52 weeks, which adds over $30,000 to the cost of a claim.
Lost Time claims have increased due to the extension of time on total disability before receiving an impairment rating, as well as high PPD awards in comparison to costs in other states. The average LT claim in New York is now expected to have costs well over $100,000. By this measurement, New York State is an outlier.
From 2001-2006 (pre-reform), lost-time claim costs increased 16% nationwide, yet increased 28% in New York during the same time period - a 14% difference. However, after the 2007 reform was enacted, LT claim costs in New York increased by almost 50%, while nationwide LT claim costs increased only 13% (from 2006 through 2012).
This bill will correct one of the flaws of the 2007 reforms. Because PPD duration limits on non-scheduled PPD claims implemented by the 2007 legislation do not include the "healing period," the duration "clock" does not start until an impairment rating is received. The fundamental oversight in the 2007 is the lack of a maximum duration on the "healing period" in the statute.
This legislation begins the clock at "date of injury" and includes a mechanism for repayment of the difference between TTD and PPD to either party after classification. With gross premiums over $5 billion and more in self-insured municipalities, authorities and businesses, the costs of New York's workers' compensation system have grown increasingly expensive and the system's in need of more reform. This return to the intended outcomes of the 2007 reform could decrease system costs by double digits.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.