Introduced Version
House Bill 2039 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2039
(By Delegate Caputo)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then Government
Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §33-2-21 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to granting the Insurance
Commissioner the authority to regulate and penalize self-
insured employers; providing for monetary penalties; and
permitting noncompliant self-insured employers to become
compliant without penalty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §33-2-21 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. INSURANCE COMMISSIONER.
§33-2-21. Authority of Insurance Commissioner to regulate workers'
compensation industry and self-insured employers;
authority of Insurance Commissioner to administer
chapter twenty-three of the code of West Virginia.
(a) Upon the termination of the Workers' Compensation
Commission pursuant to chapter twenty-three of this code, the
powers and duties heretofore imposed upon the Workers' Compensation
Commission as they relate to general administration of the
provisions of said that chapter are hereby transferred to and
imposed upon the Insurance Commissioner.
(b) Unless otherwise specified in chapter twenty-three of this
code, upon termination of the Workers' Compensation Commission, the
duties imposed upon the Workers' Compensation Commission as they
relate to the award and payment of disability and death benefits
and the review of claims in articles four and five of said that
chapter will be imposed upon the Employers Mutual Insurance Company
established pursuant to article two-c of said that chapter, a
private carrier offering workers' compensation insurance in this
state and self-insured employers. Whenever reference is made to
the Workers' Compensation Commissioner in those articles, the duty
prescribed shall apply to the Employers Mutual Insurance Company,
a private carrier or self-insured employer, as applicable.
(c) From the effective date of this enactment, the Insurance
Commissioner shall regulate all insurers licensed to transact
workers' compensation insurance in this state and all of the
provisions of this chapter shall apply to such applies to those
insurers, unless otherwise exempted by statute.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of the code to the contrary the Insurance Commissioner shall regulate all self-insured
employers in this state and this chapter shall apply to those
insurers from the effective date of this subsection. Upon notice of
noncompliance of this chapter by the Insurance Commissioner, a
self-insured employer has ninety days to come into compliance.
Thereafter, a noncompliant self-insured employer is subject to the
penalties permitted by section six, article eleven of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to grant the Insurance
Commissioner the power to regulate and penalize self-insured
employers. The bill also permits noncompliant employers to be
compliant without penalty within ninety days after receiving notice
of noncompliance. The bill also provides for monetary penalties.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.