In the near future, I will be introducing legislation to reimburse workers’ compensation carriers who were assessed by the state Workers’ Compensation Security Fund (WCSF) in 2009.
 
The WCSF is a guaranty fund which provides claims payments to injured workers when their insurance company has been placed into liquidation.
 
The WCSF has a statutory minimum balance of $500 million – when the fund balance falls below that threshold, all workers’ compensation insurers are assessed to replenish the fund. This last occurred in 2009, when the WCSF balance fell to $459 million.
 
Today, the WCSF is carrying a balance of nearly $1.2 billion with claims liabilities of roughly $240 million. In other words, the fund is carrying hundreds of millions in excess surplus which easily allows the 2009 assessments to be returned to the businesses that paid it.
 
The Insurance Department, which administers the WCSF, originally proposed this refund as part of a broader health insurance initiative.

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 3176: P.L.2532, No.470