HB 1315-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
01/10
HOUSE BILL 1315-FN
AN ACT relative to the employer’s lien on damages and benefits recovered from third persons by employees who have received workers’ compensation.
SPONSORS: Rep. G. Richardson, Merr 4; Rep. Nixon, Hills 17; Rep. Craig, Hills 9; Rep. W. O'Brien, Hills 4; Rep. Rowe, Hills 6
COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services
This bill clarifies the division of damages and benefits recovered from third persons by employees who have received workers’ compensation.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2139
01/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to the employer’s lien on damages and benefits recovered from third persons by employees who have received workers’ compensation.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Workers’ Compensation; Liability of Third Person. Amend RSA 281-A:13, IV to read as follows:
IV. Whenever there is a recovery against a third person under paragraph I, II, or III, the commissioner, the arbitrator, or the superior court, as the case may be, shall order such division of the recovery, and expenses and costs of action, including attorneys’ fees, between the employer or the employer’s insurance carrier and the employee as justice may require.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
LBAO
10-2139
11/10/09
HB 1315-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to the employer’s lien on damages and benefits recovered from third persons by employees who have received workers’ compensation.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Labor, the Department of Administrative Services, and the New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill will have an indeterminable fiscal impact on state, county and local expenditures and revenue in FY 2010 and each year thereafter.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Labor states this bill clarifies the division of damages and benefits recovered from third party persons by employees who have received workers’ compensation. The Department states state, county and local expenditures and revenue would only be impacted due to their role as an employer and being involved with a workers’ compensation claim with a third party liability recovery, therefore the fiscal impact is indeterminable.
The Department of Administrative Services states this bill may authorize adjudicatory bodies to exercise discretion in allocating third party recoveries to satisfy employer liens as well as the expenses associated with the third party action. Due to not being able to predict or estimate how adjudicatory bodies might apply this new discretion, the Department is not able to determine the fiscal impact of this bill on state expenditures and revenue.
The NH Association of Counties states this bill may change the timing of payments but will not have any fiscal impact on county expenditures.
The NH Municipal Association states this bill could impact the recovery of damages by municipalities as employers or by their insurance carriers. Due to the discretion provided in the bill, decisions on dividing damages and benefits recovered from a third party would be made on a case by case basis, thus making it impossible to determine the fiscal impact on municipal revenues and expenditures.