Bill Text: NY S05988 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to the effect and rebuttal of certain medical presumptions relating to heart disease; provides that, for certain members, any condition of impairment of health caused by a disease of the heart, resulting in disability, shall be presumptive evidence that such disability was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the natural and proximate result of an accident.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-16 - PRINT NUMBER 5988B [S05988 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S05988-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5988--B 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 16, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to certain medical presumptions applicable to members of the New York state and local employees' retirement system The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 363-a of the retirement and social 2 security law, as amended by chapter 437 of the laws of 2016, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 2. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general, 5 special, or local law to the contrary, any condition of impairment of 6 health caused by diseases of the heart, resulting in disability or death 7 to a police officer, presently employed, and who shall have sustained 8 such disability while so employed, shall be presumptive evidence that it 9 was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the natural 10 and proximate result of an accident, unless the contrary be proved by 11 competent evidence. 12 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new 13 section 809 to read as follows: 14 § 809. Effect and rebuttal of certain medical presumptions pertaining 15 to diseases of the heart. a. This section shall apply to certain appli- 16 cations for disability retirement allowances made by or on behalf of a 17 member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system or 18 the New York state and local police and fire retirement system. It 19 shall apply only to applications that are subject under this chapter to EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11753-06-0S. 5988--B 2 1 a provision that any condition of impairment of health caused by a 2 disease of the heart, resulting in disability, shall be presumptive 3 evidence that such disability was incurred in the performance and 4 discharge of duty and the natural and proximate result of an accident. 5 b. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary an 6 application for an accidental disability retirement allowance that is 7 based on a permanent incapacity caused by a disease of the heart, shall 8 not be required to allege or establish: 9 (1) that the member sustained an accident or other incident related to 10 the performance and discharge of duty; or 11 (2) that notice was provided thereof. 12 c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the 13 presumptions referred to in subdivision a of this section may be 14 rebutted only by competent evidence that the disability is not the 15 natural and proximate result of the performance and discharge of duty. 16 § 3. The amendment made to subdivision 2 of section 363-a of the 17 retirement and social security law by section one of this act shall not 18 affect, impair or invalidate any temporary right, privilege or benefit 19 conferred pursuant to the provisions of a general, special or local law 20 (other than pursuant to articles 14 and 15 of the retirement and social 21 security law) for any member of a public retirement system or pension 22 plan funded by the state or one of its political subdivisions, nor shall 23 any amendment thereto affect the application of such provisions as 24 extended by the provisions of section 480 of the retirement and social 25 security law. 26 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would amend the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) to 1) Eliminate certain eligibility requirements for awarding accidental disability benefits, when the disability is related to diseases of the heart, for members in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (ERS) and the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS). Accidental disability benefits would be granted even where a. the member did not sustain an accident, b. the member's incapacitation is unrelated to any accident, or c. the member failed to provide notice thereof. The heart presumption could continue to be rebutted by competent evidence that the disability is not the result of the performance and discharge of duty. 2) Increase disability benefits payable to police officers in PFRS, who become incapacitated due to diseases of the heart, by providing an accidental disability benefit equal to 75% of salary less workers' compensation. Currently, police officers are eligible for a perfor- mance-of-duty (POD) disability benefit equal to 50% of salary less work- ers' compensation. 3) Increase the death benefits payable on behalf of a deceased police officer in PFRS, whose death results from diseases of the heart, by providing the special accidental death benefit equal to more than 100% of salary less workers compensation and social security benefits payable to eligible beneficiary(ies). Currently the death benefit would be the continuance afforded under the POD disability retirement. Insofar as this bill will affect the New York State and Local Retire- ment System (NYSLRS), more accidental disability benefits and accidental death benefits would be granted. The cost of the revised benefit willS. 5988--B 3 depend upon the applicant's age, service, salary, plan, and benefit type otherwise payable. The number of retirees who could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined. However, every active members of PFRS will be covered, as well as members of ERS who are Uniformed Court Peace Officers in the Unified Court System. If this bill is enacted during the 2020 legislative session, we antic- ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $5.2 million in the annual contributions to NYSLRS for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. This cost would be shared by the State of New York (the State) and local participating employers of PFRS as follows: a. $2.1 million borne annually by the State ($800,000 to PFRS and $1.3 million to ERS), and b. $3.1 million borne by the local participating employers in PFRS. In future years, these annual costs will vary as the salary of affected members change. In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be an immediate past service cost to ERS of approximately $15.2 million which will be borne by the State as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2021. Further, we anticipate that the number of accidental disability appli- cations will result in a large increase in the administrative cost to process these applications and litigate anticipated disputes. Estimated costs arising in PFRS are based upon 32,573 members with an approximate salary of $3.6 billion as of March 31, 2019. Estimated costs arising in ERS are based upon 6,102 members with an approximate salary of $600 million as of March 31, 2019. Summary of relevant resources: The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2019 actuarial valu- ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2019 Report of the Actuary and the 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules, and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2019 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali- fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated March 12, 2020, and intended for use only during the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-26, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
