An Act To Amend Survivors' Benefits under the Workers' Compensation Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1327
Committee Amendment CA_A_H504 (House)
Amends: 39-A MRSA §215

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to H.P. 935, L.D. 1327, Bill, "An Act To 
Amend Survivors' Benefits under the Workers' Compensation Laws" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 39-A MRSA §215, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 885, Pt. A, §8 and affected 
by §§9 to 11, is amended to read: 
§215. Death benefits 
1. Death of employee. If death results from the injury of an employee, the employer 
shall payor cause to be paid to the dependents of the employee who were wholly 
dependent upon the employee's earnings for support at the time of the injury, a weekly 
payment equal to 80% of the employee's after-tax average weekly wage, but not more 
than the maximum benefit under section 211, for a period of 500 weeks from the date of 
death. If the employee leaves dependents only partially dependent upon the employee's 
earnings for support at the time of injury, the employer shall pay weekly compensation 
equal to the same proportion of the weekly payments for the benefit of persons wholly 
dependent, as 80% of the amount contributed by the employee to such partial dependents 
bears to the annual earnings of the deceased at the time of injury. If, at the expiration of 
the SOO-week period, any wholly or partially dependent person is less than 18 years of 
age, the employer shall continue to payor cause to be paid the weekly compensation until 
that person reaches the age of 18. 
If a dependent spouse dies or becomes a dependent of another person, the payments must 
cease upon the payment to the spouse of the balance of the compensation to which the 
spouse would otherwise have been entitled but in no event to exceed the sum of $500.00. 
The remaining weeks of compensation, if any, are payable to those persons either wholly 
or partially dependent upon the employee for support at the employee's death. The board 
shall determiRe the amouRt of eompeAsatioR or portioR thereof that is payable weekly to 
the wholly or partially depeRdeRt persoR. 
When, at the expiration of the 500-week 
period, any wholly or partially dependent person is less than 18 years of age, the 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMIITEE AMENDMENT·A " to H.P. 935, L.D. 1327 
employer shall continue to payor cause to be paid the weekly compensation, until that 
person reaches the age of IS. The payment of compensation to any dependent child after 
the expiration of the 500-week period ceases when the child reaches the age of IS years, 
if at the age of 18 years the child is neither physically nor mentally incapacitated from 
earning, or when the child reaches the age of 16 years and thereafter is self-supporting for 
months. If the child ceases to be self-supporting thereafter, the dependency must be 
reinstated. As long as any of the 500 weeks of compensation remain, that compensation 
is payable to the person either wholly or partially dependent upon the deceased employee 
for support at the time of the employee's death, with the exception of a dependent spouse 
who becomes a dependent of another. If a wholly dependent or partially dependent child 
who reaches 18 years of age is either physically or mentally incapacitated so as to be 
unable to earn a living as determined by the board, the payments must continue until such 
time as the child either dies or is no longer physically or mentally incapacitated from 
earning. 
2. Death of an injured employee. The death of the injured employee prior to the 
expiration of the period within which the employee would receive weekly payments ends 
the disability and all liability for the remainder of the payments that the employee would 
have received in case the employee had lived is terminated, but the employer is liable for 
the following death benefits in lieu of any further disability indemnity. 
A. 
If the injury received by the employee was the proximate cause of the 
employee's death and the deceased employee leaves dependents wholly or partially 
dependent on the employee for support, the death benefit mHst be a sum sufficieat, 
when added to the iAdemnity beaefits that at the time of death \:lave beef} paid or 
become payable uader sectioa 212 or 213 to the deceased employee, to make the total 
compeasatioa for the iajuf)' aad death lli equal to the full amount that the dependents 
would have been entitled to receive under subsection 1 if the injury had resulted in 
immediate death. Benefits under this paragraph are payable in the same manner as if 
the injury resulted in immediate death. 
B. 
If an application for benefits has been filed but has not been decided by the 
board or is on appeal and the employee dies from a cause unrelated to the employee's 
injury, the proceedings may be continued in the name of the employee's personal 
representative. In such a case, any benefits awarded are payable up to time of death 
and must be paid to the same beneficiaries and in the same amounts as would have 
been payable if the employee had suffered a compensable injury resulting in death. 
Sec. 2. Application. This Act applies to claims filed on or after the effective date 
of this Act.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment restores the SOO-week limitation on payment of survivors' benefits 
removed by the bill but removes the death benefit credit employers have under current 
law for indemnity payments made to an injured worker up to the time of death. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/08/07 Mac. 
LD 1327 
LR 1601(02) 
An Act To Amend Survivors' Benefits under the Workers' Compensation Laws 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment" fi .. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Committee: Labor 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - All Funds 
This legislation may increase the amount of funds paid out by the State from the Workers' Compensation Management 
Fund. The impact to the State as an employer can not be determined at this time but is not expected to be significant. 
LR1601(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1