The US Supreme Court has declined claims by Liberty Mutual and its subsidiaries that the state of New York violated its constitutional rights.
In 2013, Liberty Mutual filed a lawsuit claiming that an amendment to New York’s workers’ compensation law – generated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2013-2014 budget plan – would cost insurers and self-insured employers up to $1.6 billion in unfunded liability. Much later, the insurer requested the Supreme Court review a 2017 New York Court of Appeals ruling, which stated that the amendment did not interfere with the company and its subsidiaries’ contracts to provide workers’ compensation insurance to employers.
Earlier this week, the court turned down Liberty Mutual’s request, Reuters reported.
Cuomo’s 2013-2014 budget plan called for the closure of the state’s workers’ comp Fund for Reopened Cases to newly reopened claims. A report from the governor’s office at that time projected that closing the fund would generate annual employer savings of about $300 million.
Liberty Mutual and its units, however, alleged that whatever savings employers could gain from closing the fund would be offset by premium increases. The insurers added that if the fund were closed, responsibility for paying claims previously covered would fall on them, subsequently driving up loss costs.
