HB1231 (2022) Detail

Relative to failure to make payment of compensation.


HB 1231-FN - AS INTRODUCED

 

 

2022 SESSION

22-2413

04/05

 

HOUSE BILL 1231-FN

 

AN ACT relative to failure to make payment of compensation.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Abramson, Rock. 37

 

COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill provides for penalties against workers' compensation insurance carriers or self-insured entities which make late benefit payments to injured workers.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

22-2413

04/05

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two

 

AN ACT relative to failure to make payment of compensation.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  Findings.  The general court finds that:

I.  Workers' compensation was formed as compromise where employers were allowed to pay less in exchange for paying workers immediately and without the need to hire an attorney.

II.  Some employers are taking advantage of injured workers by delaying or denying claims, forcing injured workers to hire an attorney to recover payments.

III.  Workers injured on the job are left with unpaid medical bills, late fees, high credit card interest payments, evictions, foreclosure, repossession, bankruptcy, and homelessness because workers' compensation carriers are intentionally delaying or denying payments for lost wages to those workers.

IV.  Timely payments will not be made by carriers unless faced with some penalty for failure to make good on the claims that they've been paid to meet.

2  Workers' Compensation; Failure to Make Payment of Compensation.  Amend RSA 281-A:42, V-VI to read as follows:

V.(a)  Any insurance carrier or self-insurer who fails to file a timely memorandum in accordance with this section and who makes late payment to the employee, shall pay interest to such employee at the same rate as for judgments under RSA 336:1, II from the date the payment was due until it is paid.

[VI.] (b)  In addition to [paragraph V] subparagraph (a), any insurance carrier, self-insurer, or claims adjusting company who fails to file either the memorandum of payment of disability compensation or the memorandum of denial of compensation benefits in a timely manner shall be assessed a civil penalty of up to $2,500.

(c)  For payments made to an employee more than 60 days after the injury is first reported, if an employee's average weekly wage is more than 30 percent of the state's average weekly wage, weekly compensation shall be 100 percent of that employee's average weekly wage or 50 percent of the state's average weekly wage, whichever is greater, but in no event shall weekly compensation exceed 250 percent of the state's average weekly wage rounded off to the nearest dollar, as the commissioner determines, for the year in which the injury occurred.

3  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

 

LBA

22-2413

10/22/21

 

HB 1231-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

 

AN ACT relative to failure to make payment of compensation.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:      [ X ] State              [ X ] County               [ X ] Local              [    ] None

 

 

 

Estimated Increase / (Decrease)

STATE:

FY 2022

FY 2023

FY 2024

FY 2025

   Appropriation

$0

$0

$0

$0

   Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

   Expenditures

$0

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Funding Source:

  [ X ] General            [    ] Education            [    ] Highway           [ X ] Other - Various Government Funds

 

 

 

 

 

COUNTY:

 

 

 

 

   Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

   Expenditures

$0

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

 

 

 

 

 

LOCAL:

 

 

 

 

   Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

   Expenditures

$0

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

 

METHODOLOGY:

This bill provides for penalties against workers' compensation insurance carriers or self-insured entities which make late benefit payments to injured workers.

 

The Department of Labor does not anticipate the bill would result in an increase in revenue at the state, county or local levels.  The Department states it is possible that there could be an increase in expenditures at the state, county and local levels as there could be added workers’ compensation costs resulting from the enhanced payments.  The Department indicates such  potential increases are indeterminable because it is not possible to quantify any such increases, or the effect that they would have on related premiums.

 

It is assumed that any fiscal impact would occur after FY 2022.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Labor

 

Links


Date Body Type
Jan. 20, 2022 House Hearing
Jan. 27, 2022 House Exec Session
Jan. 27, 2022 House Exec Session
House Floor Vote

Bill Text Revisions

HB1231 Revision: 33911 Date: Nov. 18, 2021, 2:53 p.m.

Docket


Feb. 16, 2022: Inexpedient to Legislate: MA VV 02/16/2022 HJ 3


Feb. 10, 2022: Committee Report: Inexpedient to Legislate (Vote 20-0; CC)


Jan. 27, 2022: ==CANCELLED== Executive Session: 01/27/2022 09:30 am SHReps Hall


Jan. 27, 2022: Executive Session: 01/27/2022 9:30 a.m. SHReps Hall


Jan. 20, 2022: Public Hearing: 01/20/2022 2:00 p.m. LOB305-307


Nov. 18, 2021: Introduced 01/05/2022 and referred to Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services