{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-342.1240","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 342.1240","heading":"Legislative findings and  declaration of intent regarding the","body":"Kentucky  coal workers' pneumoconiosis  fund.\n(1) The General Assembly declares:\n(a) The Kentucky coal workers' pneumoconiosis fund was created in 1996 for\nthe purpose of placing the financial responsibility for liabilities incurred as\na  result of  workers' compensation  awards  for coal  workers'\npneumoconiosis  on  the employers engaged  in the severance and\nprocessing  of  coal  through  assessments  placed  on  workers'\ncompensation premiums and self-insured employers and severed coal.\nThese  assessments have been  used to pay fifty percent (50%) of\nindemnity benefits of a coal workers' pneumoconiosis claim. However, the\ncombination of the severe downturn in the amount of coal being severed\nin Kentucky, the drastic reduction in the number of coal employers and\nemployees, and the significant increase in coal workers' pneumoconiosis\nclaims being filed have had a severe negative impact on the Kentucky\ncoal workers' pneumoconiosis fund.\n(b) For calendar year 2017, the Kentucky Workers' Compensation Funding\nCommission, which is required to assess all employers engaged in the\nseverance and processing of coal at a rate that would fully fund and\nprefund  all claim liabilities and  administrative expenses  through\nDecember  31 of the following year, assessed coal employers forty-nine\nand  one-half percent (49.5%) on employers' workers' compensation\ninsurance premiums and assessed forty-one and seventy-four hundredths\ncents ($0.4174) per ton of severed coal.\n(c) The Kentucky coal workers' pneumoconiosis fund will not have adequate\nfunding without burdensome assessments on coal employers in order to\nmeet claim liabilities and administrative expenses in the upcoming years.\n(2) Therefore, it is the intent of the General Assembly to close the Kentucky coal\nworkers' pneumoconiosis fund on  July 1, 2017, to any  coal workers'\npneumoconiosis claims filed after June 30, 2017, and have the assets and\nliabilities of the Kentucky coal workers' pneumoconiosis fund transferred\nthrough a loss portfolio transfer agreement to the Kentucky Employers' Mutual\nInsurance Authority, which is a nonprofit, independent, self-supporting de jure\nmunicipal corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth.","path":["KRS Chapter 342"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=45634","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:30Z","sha256":"6fd0062facb1e9bfc4e2976c09e757d16fd8d9d309b9e1dde5aa415d43cf21af","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-342.124","next":"us-ky/krs-342.1241"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}