Insurers Threatening Legal Action Over Reform Provision

A little-noticed section of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's 2007 workers' compensation reform package requiring carriers to deposit money to cover permanent partial disability claims with a unit of the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) is under attack by attorneys, insurance agents and the state's major carriers.Representatives of all three groups said a section of A 6163, which Spitzer signed into law March 13, gives the state-run NYSIF a major competitive edge by requiring carriers to post deposits big enough to cover an estimated 5.5 years of indemnity payments to injured workers on permanent part...