§ 2304 — Rate making and supporting information

§ 2304. Rate making and supporting information. (a) In the making of\nrates, consideration shall be given to past and prospective loss\nexperience, including the conflagration and catastrophe hazards, if any,\nboth within and without this state, to all factors reasonably\nattributable to the class of risks, to a reasonable profit, to past and\nprospective expenses both country-wide and those specially applicable to\nthis state, and in the case of participating insurers to policyholders'\ndividends, savings or unabsorbed premium deposits allowed or returned to\npolicyholders, members or subscribers.\n (b) The information furnished in support of a filing may include:\n (1) the experience or judgment of the insurer or rate service\norganization making the rate;\n (2) its interpretation of any statistical data it relies upon;\n (3) the experience of other insurers or rate service organizations; or\n (4) any other relevant factors.\n (c) Risks may be grouped by classifications for the establishment of\nrates and minimum premiums. Classification rates may be modified to\nproduce rates for individual risks in accordance with rating plans which\nestablish standards for measuring variations in hazards or expense\nprovisions, or both. Such standards may measure any differences among\nrisks that can be demonstrated to have a probable effect upon losses or\nexpenses.\n (d) The systems of expense provisions included in the rates for use by\nany insurer or group of insurers may differ from those of other insurers\nor groups of insurers to reflect the requirements of the operating\nmethods of any such insurer or group with respect to one or more kinds\nof insurance, or subdivisions of kinds of insurance, or classes of\nrisks, or any part or combination of the foregoing, for which separate\nexpense provisions are applicable.\n (e)(1) Premiums for workers' compensation insurance for employments\nclassified under sections two hundred twenty, two hundred forty and two\nhundred forty-one of the labor law, provided such employments are\nclassified under each of said sections, shall be established on the\nbasis of payroll and a formula which provides appropriate credits,\nprovided such credits shall not apply to payroll in excess of the\npayroll limitation amount set forth in subdivision two of section\neighty-nine of the workers' compensation law and this subsection. With\nthe exception of employments engaged in the construction of one or two\nfamily residential housing, premiums shall be calculated in accordance\nwith the following limitations:\n (A) For policies with rating anniversary dates after September\nthirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-nine and before October first, two\nthousand, an employer's payroll for premium computation purposes in the\naffected construction classifications shall be the actual weekly payroll\nper employee for the number of weeks employed subject to a maximum of\nnine hundred dollars per week per employee plus one-half of the\ndifference between the employer's total payroll and the limited payroll.\n (B) For policies with rating anniversary dates after September\nthirtieth, two thousand and before October first, two thousand one, an\nemployer's payroll for premium computation purposes in the affected\nconstruction classifications shall be the actual weekly payroll per\nemployee for the number of weeks employed subject to a maximum of nine\nhundred dollars per week per employee.\n (C) For policies with rating anniversary dates after September\nthirtieth, two thousand one and before October first, two thousand two,\nan employer's payroll for premium computation purposes in the affected\nconstruction classifications shall be the actual weekly payroll per\nemployee for the number of weeks employed subject to a maximum of eight\nhundred dollars per week per employee.\n (D) For policies with rating anniversary dates after September\nthirtieth, two thousand two, an employer's payroll for premium\ncomputation purposes in the affected construction classifications shall\nbe the actual weekly payroll per employee for the number of weeks\nemployed subject to a maximum of the greater of seven hundred fifty\ndollars per week or the weekly payroll amount upon which the maximum\nweekly benefit is based, per employee.\n (2) The loss costs applicable to employments classified under sections\ntwo hundred twenty, two hundred forty and two hundred forty-one of the\nlabor law, provided such employments are classified under each of said\nsections, shall be adjusted to reflect the payroll limitations required\nby this section as they separately affect such rates for work actually\nperformed within each of the following geographic territories:\n (A) Territory 1 comprising the counties of the Bronx, Kings, New York,\nQueens, and Richmond;\n (B) Territory 2 comprising the counties of Dutchess, Nassau, Orange,\nPutnam, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester; and\n (C) Territory 3 comprising all other counties within the state.\n (f) The rate adjustments required by subsection (e) of this section\nshall be filed by the New York compensation insurance rating board in\naccordance with the provisions of section two thousand three hundred\nforty-seven of this article, and shall not become effective until\napproved by the superintendent.\n (g) "Loss costs," for the purpose of workers' compensation insurance\nin this article, means that portion of a rate intended to represent the\nanticipated costs of claim payments and loss adjustment expenses\nassociated with such claim payments, and may include one or more trend\nfactors. Loss costs do not include provisions for expenses (other than\nloss adjustment expenses) such as acquisition costs, overhead and taxes,\nor profit. For all other purposes, the superintendent, except as\notherwise provided in this chapter, may promulgate regulations defining\nloss costs.\n (h) A loss cost filing shall be deemed to be a rate filing under this\narticle.\n (i) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the application of payroll\nlimitation provisions at the discretion of the superintendent, provided\nsuch programs were in effect prior to the effective date of this\nsubsection.\n (j)(1) On or before July first, two thousand sixteen, the department\nshall make rules establishing requirements for health care facilities to\nobtain a reduced worker's compensation rate for safe patient handling\nprograms implemented pursuant to title one-A of article twenty-nine-A of\nthe public health law.\n (2) The department shall complete an evaluation of the results of the\nreduced rate, including changes in claim frequency and costs, and shall\nreport to the appropriate committees of the legislature on or before\nDecember first, two thousand eighteen and again on or before December\nfirst, two thousand twenty.\n