Comp-eligible N.Y. workers underreported: Study

ALBANY, N.Y.--Employers in the state of New York fail to provide workers compensation insurance for 500,000 to 1 million employees who should be covered, according to a report.

The underreporting of workers that should be covered limits the risk pool, which unfairly increases premiums and medical care costs for employers that play by the rules, the Fiscal Policy Institute, an Albany, N.Y.-based research and public policy education organization, said Thursday.

The Professional Insurance Agents of New York said the institute's findings substantiate those in PIANY's March 2006 report that said up to 20% of the state's employers may not comply with the mandate to provide workers compensation coverage.

"New York's honest employers, who play by the rules, have been subsidizing businesses that don't cover their employees or who seriously underpay for the coverage they enjoy," PIANY said in a statement.

The Fiscal Policy Institute study--"New York State Workers' Compensation: How Big Is the Coverage Shortfall?"--estimates that the state's workers comp system is shortchanged $500 million to $1 billion annually.

The institute, citing 2003 data, said only 80% of workers covered by unemployment insurance also were covered by workers comp programs.

The report can be found at www.fiscalpolicy.org.