Date: June 26, 2007
On March 13, 2007, Governor Spitzer signed into law Workers' Compensation Reform Legislation. As part of this reform legislation, Workers' Compensation Law (WCL) §15(8) was amended to provide for the closing of the Special Disability Fund. In order to close the Special Disability Fund, the reform legislation provides that workers' compensation claims with a date of accident or disablement on or after July first, two thousand seven, are not eligible for reimbursement from this Fund.
Specifically, WCL §15(8)(h)(2)(a) now provides that:
No carrier or employer, or the State Insurance Fund, may file a claim for reimbursement from the Special Disability Fund, for an injury or illness with a date of accident or date of disablement on or after July first, two thousand seven. No carrier or employer, or the State Insurance Fund, may file a claim for reimbursement from the Special Disability Fund after July first, two thousand ten, and no written submissions or evidence in support of such a claim may be submitted after that date. [emphasis added]
Pursuant to these statutory changes, every claim filed for reimbursement from the Special Disability Fund pursuant to WCL §15(8) must indicate a date of accident or date of disablement of June 30, 2007 or earlier.
In the event that the date of disablement or date of accident has not yet been established before the claim for reimbursement must be filed pursuant to WCL §15(8)(f):
If you have any questions about this issue, please contact the Office of General Counsel at (518) 486-9564.
Donna Ferrara
Chair