Provides the carrier or employer a credit against permanent partial disability benefits for temporary partial disability payments made in excess of 130 weeks.
Summary
This bill amends New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law to change how temporary partial disability payments interact with later permanent partial disability awards. For claimants whose accident or disablement date is after the effective date of the 2026 law referenced in the bill, if a carrier or employer has paid 130 weeks of compensation under temporary partial disability provisions, any later weeks paid solely under that temporary partial disability provision are counted as benefit weeks and credited against the maximum number of weeks available for permanent partial disability benefits. The bill also converts intermittent temporary partial disability paid after the 130-week point into a week-based credit against the permanent partial disability cap.
The bill further clarifies that when permanency is still being determined and the claimant has submitted medical evidence that they are not at maximum medical improvement, the carrier does not receive credit for benefit weeks before a finding of maximum medical improvement. Once a claimant is classified as permanently partially disabled and has exhausted indemnity benefits, the bill preserves a presumption that medical services continue, places the burden on the carrier, self-insured employer, or State Insurance Fund to seek discontinuance or suspension, and requires medical services to continue during any challenge. It also directs the Workers’ Compensation Board to create an independent outside review and appeal process for decisions to discontinue or suspend medical services.
The bill’s main legal impact is on the calculation of benefit weeks under Workers’ Compensation Law section 15, subdivision 3, paragraph w, and on the administration of post-award medical treatment. It would reduce the amount of permanent partial disability exposure for carriers and employers in cases where temporary partial disability payments extend beyond 130 weeks, while also preserving and reinforcing procedural protections for ongoing medical care after indemnity benefits end. The measure also updates gendered statutory language to gender-neutral phrasing.
Overall, the bill appears to be framed as a technical and cost-containment adjustment to the workers’ compensation system, with no recorded votes or committee transcript available in the provided materials. The caption suggests a focus on giving carriers and employers credit for extended temporary partial disability payments, and the text reflects that purpose. At the same time, the bill retains strong protections for injured workers’ medical benefits, which may temper concerns from labor advocates about benefit reductions.
Because there are no committee transcripts or vote records in the provided context, there is no documented public sentiment in the record here. Based on the text alone, the likely point of contention is the balance between reducing carrier/employer liability for long-running temporary disability payments and preserving injured workers’ access to permanent partial disability benefits and ongoing medical care. Employers and insurers would likely favor the credit mechanism, while worker advocates may scrutinize any reduction in compensable weeks or changes affecting benefit duration.
Impact
The bill would amend Workers’ Compensation Law section 15(3)(w) to allow carriers and employers to credit certain temporary partial disability payments made after 130 weeks against the maximum benefit weeks available for permanent partial disability awards. It also affects the rules governing when benefit-week credits begin in cases where maximum medical improvement has not yet been determined, and it directs the Workers’ Compensation Board to establish an independent review process for decisions to discontinue or suspend medical services. The practical effect is to reduce potential indemnity liability for carriers and employers in some long-duration claims while preserving ongoing medical coverage protections for permanently partially disabled claimants.
Sentiment
No committee transcript or vote history is provided, so there is no direct record of legislative debate or formal support/opposition in the materials. From the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be a targeted workers’ compensation adjustment intended to be favorable to carriers and employers on benefit accounting, while also maintaining protections for claimants’ medical treatment. The overall tone of the bill is technical and administrative rather than ideological.
Contention
The main point of contention is likely the tradeoff between cost savings for carriers/employers and the amount of compensation available to injured workers. Supporters would likely emphasize that the bill simply credits extended temporary partial disability payments against later permanent partial disability caps, preventing duplicative benefit counting. Opponents, likely labor or claimant advocates, may argue that the change reduces the duration or value of benefits for workers with long-term injuries. A secondary issue is the bill’s handling of medical services after indemnity benefits end: while it strengthens continuation of medical care, it also creates a new outside review process that could be viewed as either a safeguard or an added hurdle depending on perspective.
Same As
Provides the carrier or employer a credit against permanent partial disability benefits for temporary partial disability payments made in excess of 130 weeks.
Provides the carrier or employer a credit against permanent partial disability benefits for temporary partial disability payments made in excess of 130 weeks.
Clarifies that workers who are temporarily partially disabled are entitled to payment of benefits at a reduced rate unless their separation from employment is unrelated to the compensable injury.
Defines temporary total disability as the injured employee's inability to perform such employee's pre-injury employment duties or any modified employment offered by the employer that is consistent with such employee's disability.
Provides for cost-of-living adjustments of disability benefits for an employee with a permanent total disability to be based on an increase of the consumer price index as promulgated by the U.S. department of labor.
Provides that a member of a public retirement system who has been determined to have a permanent partial disability by the workers' compensation board of the state of New York, and who the United States social security administration has determined is disabled for substantial gainful activity, and approved for social security disability benefits, shall be deemed to be disabled for the purposes of eligibility for disability benefits of such public retirement system.
Eliminates provisions exempting employees with disabilities from the minimum wage law; provides that laws or minimum wage orders that authorize an employer to pay a wage that is less than the minimum wage are valid provided that under such laws or orders an employee with a disability is paid the same wage as an employee in a comparable position that does not have a disability.
Provides that a member of a public retirement system who has been determined to have a permanent partial disability by the workers' compensation board of the state of New York, and who the United States social security administration has determined is disabled for substantial gainful activity, and approved for social security disability benefits, shall be deemed to be disabled for the purposes of eligibility for disability benefits of such public retirement system.
Provides for a line of duty disability presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in total or partial disability or death of certain deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities.