WORKERS COMP FUND BROKE:

The fund that pays New York injured workers whose workers’ compensation carriers have gone belly up is itself nearly bankrupt, according to state officials. The New York Workers Compensation Security Fund has about $1 million left, with another $4.5 million in assessments still to be collected this month. The problem is that it has about $7.5 million in claims and expenses to pay out this and every month. “It’s running short of funds,” confirmed Michael Barry, spokesman for the New York State Insurance Department, whose liquidation bureau administers the backup fund.

The workers’ compensation fund handles claims for an estimated 7,500 injured workers from across the state. The Pataki Administration has asked the legislature to grant the workers’ compensation fund authority to transfer funds from another security fund, the property casualty security fund. The Pataki Administration is also recommending that the current 1 percent of written premium assessment on workers’ comp carriers be raised to 2 percent.