New York Assembly Bill A04969

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/10/25
• Refer: 2/10/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Specifies methods of calculating deposits and reserves for the aggregate trust fund and reserves of the state insurance fund; provides that all computations made or directed by the workers' compensation board shall be on the basis of the survivorship annuitants table of mortality, the remarriage tables of the Dutch Royal Insurance Institution applicable to claims for accidents occurring on or before December 31, 2025, and beginning January 1, 2026 and on January 1 of each tenth year thereafter, the United States life table for the total population published by the department of health and human services and the remarriage table published by the department of health and human services and the remarriage table published by the United States railroad retirement board applicable to claims for accidents occurring on or after January first of the year following the adoption of any revision of such tables; makes related provisions.

Summary

This bill updates the actuarial and reserve-calculation rules used in New York workers’ compensation and state insurance fund accounting. It changes the mortality and remarriage tables that the Workers’ Compensation Board must use when computing present values for certain death benefits and related deposits, replacing older tables with the U.S. life table for the total population and the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board remarriage table beginning January 1, 2026, and then every tenth year thereafter. The bill also ties certain calculations to the year after any future table revision takes effect. The measure further revises how the aggregate trust fund and the state insurance fund calculate loss reserves and catastrophe reserves. It directs that reserve computations be made under the standards in Insurance Law section 4117(d) and (e), and it clarifies that the superintendent of financial services may require a different reserve basis if existing calculations are inadequate or excessive. The bill is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026.

Impact

The bill would amend the Workers’ Compensation Law and the Insurance Law, affecting the Workers’ Compensation Board, the state insurance fund, and insurers making deposits into the aggregate trust fund. Its main legal effect is to modernize the actuarial assumptions used to value workers’ compensation liabilities and to align reserve-setting rules more closely with current insurance-law standards. It would also give the superintendent explicit authority to adjust reserve methods for adequacy and reasonableness, which could influence required funding levels, premium calculations, and carrier reserve practices.

Sentiment

No committee transcript or recorded vote information was provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or formal support/opposition in the available record. Based on the bill text, the measure appears technical and administrative rather than ideological, and it is framed as an update to actuarial methodology and reserve accounting. The overall tone of the proposal suggests a maintenance or modernization effort intended to keep calculations current and consistent with insurance practice.

Contention

The main potential point of contention is the shift in actuarial tables and reserve methodology, because changes in mortality, remarriage, and discount assumptions can alter the present value of liabilities and the amount of money carriers or the state insurance fund must set aside. Insurers, fund administrators, and employers could be concerned about increased reserve requirements or administrative complexity, while workers’ compensation stakeholders may focus on whether the updated tables more accurately reflect current experience. Another possible issue is the superintendent’s discretion to prescribe alternative reserve bases if existing reserves are deemed inadequate or excessive.