Changes to New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation class code have made workers’ compensation coverage for caregivers more affordable, announced the New Hampshire Association of Insurance Agents.
The minimum premium would be reduced by about 35% under the current class code, which takes effect on April 1. The change was the product of a collaboration among several organizations: the New Hampshire Insurance Department, the New Hampshire Association of Insurance Agents, the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), and the House Labor Committee.
House Labor Committee chairman Will Infantine—also
Aspen Insurance Agency president and New Hampshire Association of Insurance Agents chairman—heard of a proposed Senate bill that would have amended the standard homeowners’ policy for a similar reduction. He then proposed an alternative solution.
“Now you’d be affecting every homeowners’ policy in the whole state just for a few issues. We thought it would be a better idea to create a class code set up for just these specific sets of circumstances,” Infantine said.
The state insurance department backed Infantine, and testified against the bill. The new class code, NCCI 8872, shares similarities to another one currently used in Massachusetts.
Code 8872 exclusively applies to in-home caregivers who are employed and directly paid by the person they are assisting, or by the person’s family or representatives. The old code still applies to those paid through a healthcare agency.
“It will help make workers’ compensation coverage more affordable for individuals and families who directly hire in-home care workers to assists with daily living activities of a loved one,” said National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys lobbyist Heidi Kross.
