281-A:30 Special Fund for Active Cases. –
With regard to payments made pursuant to RSA 281-A:29 for compensable injuries occurring on or before June 30, 1975, the carrier or self-insured employer shall in the first instance make the adjustment in the weekly compensation rate. Upon application, pursuant to rules adopted by the commissioner, the carrier or self-insured employer shall be reimbursed, not less than once a year, for such payments from the special fund established herein.
I. A special fund for active cases is hereby established in the state treasury for the sole purpose of making payments in accordance with this section. The commissioner shall administer the fund. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of the fund, and all moneys and securities in the fund shall be held in trust by the state treasurer and shall not constitute money or property of the state.
II. The state treasurer is authorized to disburse moneys from the fund only upon written order of the commissioner. The state treasurer shall be required to give bond in an amount to be fixed and with surety approved by the commissioner conditioned upon the faithful performance of the treasurer's duty as custodian of the fund.
III. Each carrier and self-insurer shall, under rules adopted by the commissioner, make payments to the fund in an amount equal to that proportion of 175 percent of the total disbursements made from the fund during the preceding calendar year less the amount of the net assets in the fund as of December 31 of the preceding calendar year which the total compensation paid by such carriers or self-insurers bore to the total compensation paid by all employers' carriers and self-insurers during the fiscal year which ended within the preceding calendar year. An employer who has ceased to be a self-insurer shall continue to be liable for any assessments in the fund on account of any compensation the employer paid during such fiscal year.
IV. Where there has been default in the payment of compensation due to the insolvency of an insured employer and the employer's carrier or a self-insured employer, payment of any compensation remaining unpaid shall be made from the special fund. Such employer and carrier, or self-insured employer and surety, if any, shall be liable for payment into the fund of the amounts paid from it by the commissioner under the authority of this section; and, for the purposes of enforcing this liability, the commissioner, for the benefit of the fund, shall be subrogated to all of the rights of the person receiving such compensation.
V. The commissioner shall conserve the assets of the fund. In furtherance of this purpose, the attorney general shall appoint an employee of the department of justice to represent the fund in all proceedings brought to enforce claims against the fund.
VI. A single assessment shall be assessed by the commissioner against each carrier and self-insurer as soon as practicable after July 1, 1989, which shall be paid to the fund in order to carry out the purposes of this section. The commissioner shall establish the amount of the assessment to produce the minimum amount necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, but in no event shall the assessment exceed 1/2 of one percent of compensation (including medical benefits) paid during the previous calendar year.
VII. A carrier or self-insurer failing without sufficient cause to make payment under this section within the period specified by the commissioner shall be assessed a civil penalty of $100 for each day that the payment is overdue, which shall be deposited into the department of labor restricted fund established in RSA 273:1-b.
Source. 1988, 194:2. 1996, 178:2, eff. Aug. 2, 1996. 2011, 224:63, eff. July 1, 2011.