KRS § 342.122 — KY Code / Title XXVII / Chapter 342 / Section 342.122
342.122 Special fund assessments -- Annual adjustments -- Quarterly payments -- Electronic remittance -- Reports -- Central claim registry
Status: in_force

342.122 Special fund assessments -- Annual adjustments -- Quarterly

payments -- Electronic remittance -- Reports -- Central claim registry.

(1) (a) For calendar year 1997 and for each calendar year thereafter, for the

purpose of funding and prefunding the liabilities of the special fund,

financing the administration and operation of the Kentucky Workers'

Compensation Funding Commission, and financing the expenditures for

all programs in the Department of Workers' Claims, Occupational Safety

and Health Review Commission, Workers' Compensation Nominating

Committee, Department of Workplace Standards, except expenditures for

the Division of Wages and Hours contained in the Department of

Workplace Standards and the proportional support for general

administration and support based on an approved indirect cost allocation

plan within the Education and Labor Cabinet, as reflected in the enacted

budget of the Commonwealth and enacted by the General Assembly, the

funding commission shall impose a special fund assessment rate of nine

percent (9) upon the amount of workers' compensation premiums

received on and after January 1, 1997, through December 31, 1997, by

every insurance carrier writing workers' compensation insurance in the

Commonwealth, by every self-insured group operating under the

provisions of KRS 342.350(4) and Chapter 304, and against the premium,

as defined in KRS 342.0011, of every employer carrying his or her own

risk.

(b) The funding commission shall, for calendar year 1998 and thereafter,

establish for the special fund an assessment rate to be assessed against

all premium received during that calendar year which shall produce

enough revenue to amortize on a level basis the unfunded liability of the

special fund as of June 30 preceding January 1 of each year, for the

period remaining until December 31, 2029. The interest rate to be used in

this calculation shall reflect the funding commission's investment

experience to date and the current investment policies of the commission.

This assessment shall be imposed upon the amount of workers'

compensation premiums received by every insurance carrier writing

workers' compensation insurance in the Commonwealth, by every

self-insured group operating under the provisions of KRS 342.350(4) and

Chapter 304, and against the premium, as defined in KRS 342.0011, of

every employer carrying its own risk. On or before October 1 of each

year, the commission shall notify each insurance carrier writing workers'

compensation insurance in the Commonwealth, every group of

self-insured employers, and each employer carrying its own risk, of the

rates which shall become effective on January 1 of each year, unless

modified by the General Assembly.

(c) All assessments imposed by this section shall be paid to the Kentucky

Workers' Compensation Funding Commission and shall be credited to the

benefit reserve fund within the Kentucky Workers' Compensation Funding

Commission.

(d) The assessments imposed in this chapter shall be in lieu of all other

assessments or taxes on workers' compensation premiums.

(2) (a) These assessments shall be paid quarterly not later than the thirtieth day

of the month following the end of the quarter in which the premium is

received. Receipt shall be considered timely through actual physical

receipt or by postmark of the United States Postal Service. Employers

carrying their own risk and employers defined in KRS 342.630(2) shall

pay the annual assessments in four (4) equal quarterly installments.

(b) Beginning on January 1, 2020, all assessments shall be electronically

remitted to the funding commission quarterly not later than the thirtieth

day of the month following the end of the quarter in which the premium is

received. Receipt shall be considered timely when filed and remitted

using the appropriate electronic pay system as prescribed by the funding

commission. Employers carrying their own risk and employers defined in

KRS 342.630(2) shall pay the annual assessments in four (4) equal

quarterly installments.

(3) The assessments imposed by this section may be collected by the insurance

carrier from the insured. However, the insurance carrier shall not collect from

the employer any amount exceeding the assessments imposed pursuant to this

section. If the insurance carrier collects the assessment from an insured, the

assessment shall be collected at the same time and in the same proportion as

the premium is collected. The assessment for an insurance policy or other

evidence of coverage providing a deductible may be collected in accordance

with this chapter on a premium amount that equates to the premium that would

have applied without the deductible. Each statement from an insurance carrier

presented to an insured reflecting premium and assessment amounts shall

clearly identify and distinguish the amount to be paid for premium and the

amount to be paid for assessments. No insurance carrier shall collect from an

insured an amount in excess of the assessment percentages imposed by this

chapter. The assessment for an insurance policy or other evidence of coverage

providing a deductible may be collected in accordance with this chapter on a

premium amount that equates to the premium that would have applied without

the deductible. The percentages imposed by this chapter for an insurance

policy issued by an insurance company shall be those percentages in effect on

the annual effective date of the policy, regardless of the date that the premium

is actually received by the insurance company.

(4) A self-insured group may elect to report its premiums and to have its

assessments computed in the same manner as insurance companies. This

election may not be rescinded for at least ten (10) years, nor may this election

be made a second time for at least another ten (10) years, except that the

board of directors of the funding commission may, at its discretion, waive the

ten (10) year ban on a case-by-case basis after formal petition has been made

to the funding commission by a self-insured group.

(5) The funding commission, as part of the collection and auditing of the special

fund assessments required by this section, shall annually require each

insurance carrier and each self-insured group to provide a list of employers

which it has insured or which are members and the amount collected from each

employer. Additionally, the funding commission shall require each entity paying

a special fund assessment to report the SIC code for each employer and the

amount of premium collected from each SIC code. An insurance carrier or

self-insured group may require its insureds or members to furnish the SIC code

for each of their employees. However, the failure of any employer to furnish

said codes shall not relieve the insurance carrier or self-insured group from the

obligation to furnish same to the funding commission. The Department of

Workforce Development, Education and Labor Cabinet, is hereby directed to

make available the SIC codes assigned in its records to specific employers to

aid in the reporting and recording of the special fund assessment data.

(6) Each self-insured employer, self-insured group, or insurance carrier shall

provide any information and submit any reports the Department of Revenue or

the funding commission may require to effectuate the provisions of this section.

In addition, the funding commission may enter reciprocal agreements with

other governmental agencies for the exchange of information necessary to

effectuate the provisions of this section.

(7) The special fund shall be required to maintain a central claim registry of all

claims to which it is named a party, giving each such claim a unique claim

number and thereafter recording the status of each claim on a current basis.

The registry shall be established by January 26, 1988, for all claims on which

payments were made since July 1, 1986, or which were pending adjudication

since July 1, 1986, by audit of all claim files in the possession of the special

fund.

(8) The fund heretofore designated as the subsequent claim fund is abolished, and

there is substituted therefor the special fund as set out by this section, and all

moneys and properties owned by the subsequent claim fund are transferred to

the special fund.

(9) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section or this chapter to the

contrary, the total amount of funds collected pursuant to the assessment rates

adopted by the funding commission shall not be limited to the provisions of this

section.

(10) All assessment rates imposed for periods prior to January 1, 1997, under KRS

342.122 shall forever remain applicable to premiums received on policies with

effective dates prior to January 1, 1997, by every insurance carrier writing

workers' compensation insurance in the Commonwealth, by every self-insured

group operating under the provision of KRS 342.350(4) and Chapter 304, and

against the premium, as defined in KRS 342.0011, of every employer carrying

its own risk.