232.680 - Payment of costs: Assessments; regulations; federal grants; refunds.
232.680 Payment of costs: Assessments; regulations; federal grants; refunds.
1. The cost of carrying out the provisions of NRS 232.550 to 232.700, inclusive, and of supporting the Division, a full-time employee of the Legislative Counsel Bureau and the Fraud Control Unit for Industrial Insurance established pursuant to NRS 228.420, and that portion of the cost of the Office for Consumer Health Assistance established pursuant to NRS 223.550 that is related to providing assistance to consumers and injured employees concerning workers’ compensation, must be paid from assessments payable by each insurer, including each employer who provides accident benefits for injured employees pursuant to NRS 616C.265.
2. The Administrator shall assess each insurer, including each employer who provides accident benefits for injured employees pursuant to NRS 616C.265. To establish the amount of the assessment, the Administrator shall determine the amount of money necessary for each of the expenses set forth in subsections 1 and 4 of this section and subsection 3 of NRS 616A.425 and determine the amount that is payable by the private carriers, the self-insured employers, the associations of self-insured public or private employers and the employers who provide accident benefits pursuant to NRS 616C.265 for each of the programs. For the expenses from which more than one group of insurers receives benefit, the Administrator shall allocate a portion of the amount necessary for that expense to be payable by each of the relevant group of insurers, based upon the expected annual expenditures for claims of each group of insurers. After allocating the amounts payable among each group of insurers for all the expenses from which each group receives benefit, the Administrator shall apply an assessment rate to the:
(a) Private carriers that reflects the relative hazard of the employments covered by the private carriers, results in an equitable distribution of costs among the private carriers and is based upon expected annual premiums to be received;
(b) Self-insured employers that results in an equitable distribution of costs among the self-insured employers and is based upon expected annual expenditures for claims;
(c) Associations of self-insured public or private employers that results in an equitable distribution of costs among the associations of self-insured public or private employers and is based upon expected annual expenditures for claims; and
(d) Employers who provide accident benefits pursuant to NRS 616C.265 that reflect the relative hazard of the employments covered by those employers, results in an equitable distribution of costs among the employers and is based upon expected annual expenditures for claims.
Ê The Administrator shall adopt regulations that establish the formula for the assessment and for the administration of payment, and any penalties that the Administrator determines are necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection. The formula may use actual expenditures for claims. As used in this subsection, the term “group of insurers” includes the group of employers who provide accident benefits for injured employees pursuant to NRS 616C.265.
3. Federal grants may partially defray the costs of the Division.
4. Assessments made against insurers by the Division after the adoption of regulations must be used to defray all costs and expenses of administering the program of workers’ compensation, including the payment of:
(a) All salaries and other expenses in administering the Division, including the costs of the office and staff of the Administrator.
(b) All salaries and other expenses of administering NRS 616A.435 to 616A.460, inclusive, the offices of the Hearings Division of the Department of Administration and the programs of self-insurance and review of premium rates by the Commissioner of Insurance.
(c) The salary and other expenses of a full-time employee of the Legislative Counsel Bureau whose principal duties are limited to conducting research and reviewing and evaluating data related to industrial insurance.
(d) All salaries and other expenses of the Fraud Control Unit for Industrial Insurance established pursuant to NRS 228.420.
(e) Claims against uninsured employers arising from compliance with NRS 616C.220 and 617.401.
(f) That portion of the salaries and other expenses of the Office for Consumer Health Assistance established pursuant to NRS 223.550 that is related to providing assistance to consumers and injured employees concerning workers’ compensation.
5. If the Division refunds any part of an assessment, the Division shall include in that refund any interest earned by the Division from the refunded part of the assessment.
(Added to NRS by 1981, 1520; A 1985, 866; 1991, 2436; 1993, 775, 1491; 1995, 579, 2040, 2164; 1997, 579; 1999, 1810; 2001, 962, 2458; 2003, 175, 2806)