The mission of the Office of Workers' Compensation-Second Injury Board is to encourage the employment of workers with a permanent condition that is an obstacle to employment or re-employment, by reimbursing the employer and/or insurer for the costs of workers' compensation benefits when such a worker sustains a subsequent job-related injury. This is accomplished by: establishing a Second Injury Fund; determining an assessment rate required to maintain a solvent self-generated fund; collecting revenues from self-insured employers and insurance carriers; paying or denying claims for reimbursement in accordance with governing regulations; and litigating claim denials challenged in the court system.
The goal of the Office of Workers' Compensation-Second Injury Board is to reintegrate all job ready, Louisiana workers with partial or permanent disabilities into the work force.
This agency's recommended appropriation does not include any funds for short-term debt.
This agency does not have any long-term debt for Fiscal Year 1998-1999.
This agency's recommended appropriation also includes the following amount by means of financing for payments on the unfunded accrued liability of the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System in accordance with the provisions of Article X, Section 29 of the Constitution of Louisiana:
The mission of the Injured Workers' Re-employment Program is to encourage employers to hire previously injured workers by reimbursing the employer and/or insurers for some of the associated costs if the previously injured employee suffers another injury on the job.
The goals of the Injured Workers' Re-employment Program are:
1. Reintegrate all job ready, Louisiana workers with permanent, partial disabilities into the work force.
2. Ensure prompt reimbursement to employers and insurers on qualifying claims.
Toward meeting its goals, the Injured Workers' Re-employment Program administers a Second Injury Fund by establishing an assessment rate on insurers with workers compensation claims activity, collecting revenues from insurers, paying or denying claims for reimbursement in accordance with regulations, and litigating claim denials challenged in the court system.
The Injured Workers' Re-employment Program includes the following activities: Claims Processing, and Litigation of Denied Claims.
OBJECTIVES AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
1. In FY 1998-99, the Office of Workers' Compensation-2nd Injury Board will accurately process 100% of the claims received from employers and insurance carriers, and keep administrative cost at 2% of the total claims payments.
RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR THE PROGRAM
This program is funded from the Louisiana Worker's Compensation-Second Injury Fund. (Per R.S.39:32b.(8), see table below for a listing of expenditures out of each statutory dedicated fund). This Fund is administered by five Board members: the State Treasurer, Commissioner of Insurance, Director of Worker's Compensation, Secretary of the Department of Social Services and Secretary of State. Each insurance carrier and the self-insured employer is assessed an annual assessment based on a percentage of the total paid Worker's Compensation benefits. The Board may suspend or lower this assessment rate annually.
The total means of financing for this program is recommended at 100.1% of the existing operating budget. It represents 99.9% of the total request ($ 30,304,623) for this program. The increase is primarily due to annualization of 1997-1998 merit increases, classified state merit increases and acquisitions/major repairs. This program does not have any positions that have been vacant for 1 year or more.
ACQUISITIONS AND MAJOR REPAIRS
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Replacement of three (3) IBM PC's, three (3) IBM printers and accessories and two (2) filing cabinets |
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