| NIB disputes governor’s claim for $10 million | | Print | |
| Written by Richard Green/richard@fptci.com | |||
| Thursday, 02 February 2012 11:21 | |||
 The National Insurance Board says $10 million that the governor wants to force the board to give to government should be saved for possible future shortfalls in pension funds. In a Jan. 30 statement, the NIB said current law does not allow it to pay money to government without verifiable documentation, and the board disputes the amount the governor intends to take with passage of special new legislation. Since 1992 NIB was supposed to be paying actual documented medical costs for death, dismemberment, disability and worker injuries, but the former elected government never requested payments. Regardless, the NIB says it paid $50,000 to government every year from 1992 to 2009 for those claims. As a result, the fund for those claims has accumulated a $20 million surplus. When government submitted its first documented request in 2009 for $837,000, the NIB says government agreed that payment would satisfy NIB’s total indebtedness to government dating back to 1992. His Excellency the Gov. Ric Todd says that claim is a “gross underestimate” of what NIB should have paid for past actual costs. An actuary estimated that the amount owed could be as much as $10 million, which is the amount the governor says he intends to transfer. The two-year-old National Insurance Program that provides most health care to residents is operating in the red, so the governor wants to use $10 million from NIB to offset what the cash-strapped government has to pay to cover NHIP’s shortfall. The board said it had offered to discuss with government other ways NIB could help financially, and it even offered to submit to binding arbitration to settle the amount owed from 1992, but the governor declined both offers. However, the governor has said that he has tried to negotiate with NIB but has been unable to reach an agreement. The governor has taken issue with NIB statements that he will be taking money from pensions, even though the money won’t come from funds that pay pensions. NIB conceded in its Jan. 30 statement that pension funds wouldn’t be affected, but it pointed out that 99 percent of its $20 million surplus is for death, dismemberment and disability. Only about $205,000 is set aside for worker injury claims, according to NIB. “There is certainly not $10 million available from the (worker injury fund) to cover the costs of this transfer, so the monies will need to come from the Death, Disability and Dismemberment Reserve Fund,” NIB’s statement said. Also this year, the governor announced an amnesty plan for those in arrears in NIB contributions, including millions of dollars the former elected government has not paid for its employees. Those who pay up by Feb. 29 will not have to pay huge late penalties, which was estimated at $11.8 million from government and up to $4 million for the private sector. While the NIB’s $20 million surplus is earmarked for medical expenses, it can be transferred to cover shortages in the pension fund. NIB says that $20 million should be kept to cover the anticipated loss of money caused by the amnesty program or any other shortages in NIB funds. Click HERE to read the NIB’s statement Click HERE to read the governor's statement Click HERE to read the actuary's full report
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