2000 SESSION

00-2536

10/01

HOUSE BILL 1568-FN

COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration

ANALYSIS

This bill removes the requirement of medical examination and determination of gainful occupation for group II members granted an accidental disability retirement.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

00-2536

10/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Disability Retirement Benefits; Medical Examination and Gainful Occupation; Application to Accidental Disability Removed. Amend RSA 100-A:6, III to read as follows:

III. Medical Examination, Gainful Occupation; Ordinary Disability Retirement.

(a) Once a year during the first 5 years following the retirement of either a group I or group II member on [a] an ordinary disability retirement allowance, and once in every 3-year period thereafter, the board of trustees may, and upon [his] the member's application shall, require any ordinary disability beneficiary who has not attained age 60 to undergo a medical examination by a physician or physicians designated by the board. If any ordinary disability beneficiary who has not attained age 60 refuses to submit to such medical examination, [his] or her state annuity may be discontinued by the board of trustees until [his] withdrawal of such refusal, and if [his] the refusal continues for more than one year, all [his] the member's rights in and to his or her state annuity may be revoked by the board.

(b)(1) If the board of trustees finds that any ordinary disability beneficiary is engaged in or is able to engage in a gainful occupation paying more than the difference between the beneficiary's retirement allowance and the current comparable compensation, then the beneficiary's state annuity may be reduced to an amount which, together with the member annuity and the annual amount earnable, is equal to the current comparable compensation. Such reduction shall not be made if the disabled beneficiary demonstrates to the satisfaction of the board of trustees that the annual compensation currently earnable does not exceed the difference between the beneficiary's retirement allowance and the current comparable compensation. If the beneficiary's earning capacity is later changed, the state annuity may be further modified; provided that the new state annuity shall not exceed the amount of the state annuity originally granted nor an amount which, when added to the amount earnable, together with the member annuity, equals the current comparable compensation. It shall be the responsibility of the disability beneficiary to file with the board of trustees, annually on a date determined by the board, proof of the annual amount of compensation currently earnable and of the current comparable compensation.

(2) For purposes of this subparagraph, "current comparable compensation" means the greatest of:

(A) The annual amount of compensation currently payable for the job classification last held by the beneficiary prior to ordinary disability retirement;

(B) The annual amount of compensation payable for the job classification held at the time of disability; or

(C) The beneficiary's average final compensation increased by an amount for each year since ordinary disability retirement calculated using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

(c) Except for payments made under RSA 281-A:37 or compensation which is not earnable compensation under RSA 100-A:1, XVII, any amounts which may be paid or payable to or on account of any member or retired member on account of any disability to which the employer has made contributions under the provisions of any workers' compensation or similar law or plan shall, in such manner as the board of trustees shall determine, be offset against and payable in lieu of any state annuity on account of the same disability.

(d) The board shall have the authority to recover from any member or retired member who is [a] an ordinary disability recipient overpayments made under this section because the disability recipient failed to notify the retirement system when the recipient began to receive workers' compensation benefits which affect the monthly disability annuity payment from the retirement system.

2 Call, Substitute, or Volunteer Firemen. Amend RSA 100-A:19, II to read as follows:

II. Upon the application of a call, substitute or volunteer fireman who is eligible for benefits under this section, and who has become totally and permanently incapacitated as the natural and proximate result of an injury received while in the actual performance of fire duty at some definite time and place, without willful negligence on his part, such fireman shall receive an annual allowance not to exceed $1,250; provided he is found to be mentally or physically incapacitated for employment and that such incapacity is likely to be permanent. The fact of such fireman's permanent disability shall be established in a manner similar to that employed for determining the eligibility of a member for an accidental disability allowance under RSA 100-A:6[, and, after the commencement of such allowance, said fireman shall be subject to the provisions of RSA 100-A:6, III, as if the same were part of this section].

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

LBAO

00-2536

12/17/99

HB 1568-FN - FISCAL NOTE

FISCAL IMPACT: