Opinion ID: 518390
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Special Fund

Text: 16 Costello's second line of attack is to charge that its insurers' insolvency is a circumstance precluding payment which entitles Keough and Meagher to compensation from the Secretary of Labor's Special Fund. Costello asks us to order the Secretary to pay Costello's employees from the Special Fund. Costello's approach, as a policy matter, is not without appeal. A legislative scheme requiring all participating insurers in the nation to contribute to a fund that would secure against the default of one or more of their number might be a good addition to the present statute. Be that as it may, the LHWCA simply is not structured in that way. Payment from the Special Fund lies in the Secretary's discretion, and we have no power to order the Secretary to take discretionary action. Further, the LHWCA clearly anticipates that the first source of payment must be the employer. Even if the Secretary were to pay Keough and Meagher from the Special Fund, Costello would remain liable to the government for the amounts paid. See 33 U.S.C. Sec. 918(b). 5 Lacking any statutory basis for doing so, we therefore decline to order payment from the Special Fund.