Updated March 1, 2015
Missouri's Second Injury Fund was depleted for years, ever since a law passed in 2005 capped the surcharge that the state's employers paid on their workers' compensation insurance premiums that went to the state Fund. The Fund quickly ran out of money, and for several years, injured workers would receive awards against the Second Injury Fund, only to learn that the Fund could not pay because they lacked the money necessary to satisfy the awards. After prior attempts to pass laws addressing the broken Fund were unsuccessful, the Missouri legislature finally passed SB1 in the summer of 2013. SB1 temporarily doubled the surcharge for a number of years in an effort to infuse money into the Fund. As a result of its passage, the Fund is slowly recovering and several employees are starting to receive checks for awards issued several years ago. The Fund is still quite a way behind on payments. In fact, we have been receiving letters from the Attorney General's office shortly after settling our client's Second Injury Fund cases, telling us that payment on the newly resolved cases is years away. So, the Fund is now paying their old obligations, but it will take them quite some time to catch up. The legislature set a priority in which these obligations are paid, and that priority is listed at Section 287.220.15 RSMo. This information is current as of March, 2015 and is going to change as the fund receives more money from the surcharge.
