20 chgo ee's, 1 NY ee

[SuburbanChgoAgent]

Hi everyone, new to the forum - looks like a great resource and I look forward to participating!

I have a group here in Chicago I provide a comprehensive benefits package for. Recently they hired a new employee, in NY, who offices out of an affiliated company in Manhattan. The employee is insured under the umbrella of my Chicago client on everything. That is, everything except the STD! Our STD/LTD carrier, U___, cannot cover the NY employee on the STD! So, I’ve been referred to the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF), where we can purchase the state mandated minimum amount of coverage on this one individual. The problem is, the weekly limit on the Unum policy is $1,600.00 a week, and the weekly limit on the NYSIF policy is under $200.00 a week!

Someone out there has to have run into this before. I’f so, I'm curious how you handled this. If not, how would you handled this? I look forward to your responses.

Regards,

Scott

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

I don't think I can help, but I am quite fond of Da Bears!

 

[somarco]

Nothing you can do about that. NY has TDI coverage mandated thru the state. Employers are required to contribute in much the same way they do SUTA.

 

[arnguy]

I am not questioning the accuracy of somarco's post, but you may want to run this by a DI specialist on the disability agents forum website. I believe that at least one of the agents is domiciled in New York state.

 

[somarco]

www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/sspus/tempdib.pdf

Who Is and Who Is Not Covered

Temporary disability laws - Workers' Comp Risk & Insurance - Find Articles

New York Payroll Processing | SurePayroll

 

[SuburbanChgoAgent]

Thank you for the responses! I'm having are hard time understanding why U___ would cover the employee on the LTD; but, not the STD. I'm thinking it's an offset type of thing. Meaning, were required to provide the NY state mandated coverage, as small as that may be and that U___ will still provide their benefit up to the contract limits; but, just offset with the NY state mandated coverage. I've got to head out the door again; but, I'll report back with what I find out.

Somarco, thanks for the resources!

Scott

 

[somarco]

I used to write group STD & LTD on employers and recall running into the TDI issue. Can't recall if the carriers can't or won't write it due to the TDI benefit. Could be a state prohibition or else carriers don't want to go to the trouble of writing a special policy that complies with NY (or CA, RI, HI, NJ) laws. I believe some states prohibit STD where TDI is mandated, but could be wrong.

If the carrier won't write it then accept it. This is not your problem.

 

[SuburbanChgoAgent]

Ok, guy’s here is deal regarding my New York employee situation: The state of NY requires all employers to carry a New York State statutory disability insurance policy on any employees working there. These plans have to be provided by a carrier licensed by New York State to write these types of policies or by an employer authorized by their Board to self-insure. Our group carrier is not licensed to provide this type of a benefit in N.Y., though it coverage is as strong as the NY state mandated coverage, and has much higher limits than this covereage, we are still required to provide the coverage through an authorized provider. The limits of this statuatory coverage are very low, it only covers $17,680.00 of annual salary. Hence , the good news, it’s inexpensive, $100.00 annually, and it’s easy to apply for.

So, my clients NY employee will essentially be covered by two STD plans. One through an authorized provider of the NY state mandated coverage, and one through our group provider. Should this individual qualify for STD benefits under both policies, our group provider will offset their benefit by any amount he receives through this NYS policy.

I apologize for all the “hub bub” about this, I received bad info from my marketing rep when he told me they will not cover the NY employee. In fact, the NY employee is covered on our group plan!

I hope this is helpful to someone down the line!

All the best,

Scott