STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6793--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 18, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on Govern-
mental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
impairments of health, presumption and staph/MRSA
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
2 a new section 363-ddd to read as follows:
3 § 363-ddd. Impairments of health; presumption; Staph/MRSA. Notwith-
4 standing any provision of this chapter or of any general, special or
5 local law to the contrary, any police officer or firefighter who is
6 covered by the provisions of section three hundred sixty-three of this
7 title and who contracts methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus
8 (MRSA) or Staph/MRSA will be presumed to have contracted such disease in
9 the performance or discharge of his or her duties as the natural and
10 proximate result of an accident and to be disabled from the performance
11 of his or her duties unless the contrary be proven by competent
12 evidence.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.-- This bill will affect certain members of the New York
State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System by presuming that
contracting MRSA or Staph/MRSA will qualify them for an accidental disa-
bility retirement, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence.
If this bill is enacted, it would lead to more disabilities being
classified as "accidental". For the disabilities so classified due to
this bill, the cost would depend on whether such person would have
otherwise been eligible for an ordinary disability, a performance of
duty disability or a service retirement. For those who contract such
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09076-02-4
A. 6793--A 2
disease prior to being eligible to receive an ordinary disability
retirement, it is estimated that there would be an average per person
cost of approximately eight (8) times final average salary. For those
who contract such disease who would be eligible to receive an ordinary
disability retirement, it is estimated that there would be an average
per person cost of approximately four (4) times final average salary.
For those who contract such disease who would be eligible to receive a
performance of duty disability retirement, it is estimated that there
would be an average per person cost of approximately two (2) times final
average salary. For those who contract such disease who are eligible for
service retirement, it is estimated that there would be an average per
person cost of approximately 150% of final average salary.
However, we anticipate that few additional accidental disability
retirements will be granted, and thus, the resulting costs are expected
to be negligible.
Summary of relevant resources:
The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed
change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2013 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2013
Report of the Actuary and the 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2010,
2011, 2012 and 2013 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial
Assumptions, and the Codes Rules and Regulations of the State of New
York: Audit and Control.
The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2013
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
This estimate, dated January 24, 2014 and intended for use only during
the 2014 Legislative Session; is Fiscal Note No. 2014-59, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement
System.
