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Alaska Statutes.

Title 23. Labor and Workers' Compensation

Chapter 30. Alaska Workers' Compensation Act

Section 155. Payment of Compensation.

AS 23.30.155. Payment of Compensation.

(a) Compensation under this chapter shall be paid periodically, promptly, and directly to the person entitled to it, without an award, except where liability to pay compensation is controverted by the employer. To controvert a claim the employer must file a notice, on a form prescribed by the director, stating

(1) that the right of the employee to compensation is controverted;

(2) the name of the employee;

(3) the name of the employer;

(4) the date of the alleged injury or death; and

(5) the type of compensation and all grounds upon which the right to compensation is controverted.

(b) The first installment of compensation becomes due on the 14th day after the employer has knowledge of the injury or death. On this date all compensation then due shall be paid. Subsequent compensation shall be paid in installments, every 14 days, except where the board determines that payment in installments should be made monthly or at some other period.

(c) The insurer or adjuster shall notify the division and the employee on a form prescribed by the director that the payment of compensation has begun or has been increased, decreased, suspended, terminated, resumed, or changed in type. An initial report shall be filed with the division and sent to the employee within 28 days after the date of issuing the first payment of compensation. If at any time 21 days or more pass and no compensation payment is issued, a report notifying the division and the employee of the termination or suspension of compensation shall be filed with the division and sent to the employee within 28 days after the date the last compensation payment was issued. A report shall also be filed with the division and sent to the employee within 28 days after the date of issuing a payment increasing, decreasing, resuming, or changing the type of compensation paid. If the division and the employee are not notified within the 28 days prescribed by this subsection for reporting, the insurer or adjuster shall pay a civil penalty of $100 for the first day plus $10 for each day after the first day that the notice was not given. Total penalties under this subsection may not exceed $1,000 for a failure to file a required report. Penalties assessed under this subsection are eligible for reduction under (m) of this section. A penalty assessed under this subsection after penalties have been reduced under (m) of this section shall be increased by 25 percent and shall bear interest at the rate established under AS 45.45.010 .

(d) If the employer controverts the right to compensation, the employer shall file with the division and send to the employee a notice of controversion on or before the 21st day after the employer has knowledge of the alleged injury or death. If the employer controverts the right to compensation after payments have begun, the employer shall file with the division and send to the employee a notice of controversion within seven days after an installment of compensation payable without an award is due. When payment of temporary disability benefits is controverted solely on the grounds that another employer or another insurer of the same employer may be responsible for all or a portion of the benefits, the most recent employer or insurer who is party to the claim and who may be liable shall make the payments during the pendency of the dispute. When a final determination of liability is made, any reimbursement required, including interest at the statutory rate, and all costs and attorney fees incurred by the prevailing employer, shall be made within 14 days after the determination.

(e) If any installment of compensation payable without an award is not paid within seven days after it becomes due, as provided in (b) of this section, there shall be added to the unpaid installment an amount equal to 25 percent of the installment. This additional amount shall be paid at the same time as, and in addition to, the installment, unless notice is filed under (d) of this section or unless the nonpayment is excused by the board after a showing by the employer that owing to conditions over which the employer had no control the installment could not be paid within the period prescribed for the payment. The additional amount shall be paid directly to the recipient to whom the unpaid installment was to be paid.

(f) If compensation payable under the terms of an award is not paid within 14 days after it becomes due, there shall be added to that unpaid compensation an amount equal to 25 percent of the unpaid installment. The additional amount shall be paid at the same time as, but in addition to, the compensation, unless review of the compensation order making the award as provided under AS 23.30.008 and an interlocutory injunction staying payments is allowed by the court. The additional amount shall be paid directly to the recipient to whom the unpaid compensation was to be paid.

(g) [Repealed, Sec. 3 ch 59 SLA 1981].

(h) The board may upon its own initiative at any time in a case in which payments are being made with or without an award, where right to compensation is controverted, or where payments of compensation have been increased, reduced, terminated, changed, or suspended, upon receipt of notice from a person entitled to compensation, or from the employer, that the right to compensation is controverted, or that payments of compensation have been increased, reduced, terminated, changed, or suspended, make the investigations, cause the medical examinations to be made, or hold the hearings, and take the further action which it considers will properly protect the rights of all parties.

(i) When the director considers it advisable, the director may require an employer to make a deposit with the Department of Revenue to secure the prompt and convenient payment of the compensation, and payments from the deposit upon an award shall be made upon order of the director.

(j) If an employer has made advance payments or overpayments of compensation, the employer is entitled to be reimbursed by withholding up to 20 percent out of each unpaid installment or installments of compensation due. More than 20 percent of unpaid installments of compensation due may be withheld from an employee only on approval of the board.

(k) An injured employee, or in case of death the employee's dependents or personal representative shall give receipts for payment of compensation to the employer paying the compensation and the employer shall produce the receipts for inspection by the director, whenever required.

(l) [Repealed, Sec. 1 ch 83 SLA 1975].

(m) On or before March 1 of each year, the insurer or adjuster shall file a verified annual report on a form prescribed by the director stating the total amount of all compensation by type, the number of claims received and the percentage controverted, medical, and related benefits, vocational rehabilitation expenses, legal fees, including a separate total of fees paid to attorneys and fees paid for the other costs of litigation, and penalties paid on all claims during the preceding calendar year. If the annual report is timely and complete when received by the division and provides accurate information about each category of payments, the director shall review the timeliness of the insurer's or adjuster's reports filed during the preceding year under (c) of this section. If, during the preceding year, the insurer or adjuster filed at least 99 percent of the reports on time, the penalties assessed under (c) of this section shall be waived. If, during the preceding year, the insurer or adjuster filed at least 97 percent of the reports on time, 75 percent of the penalties assessed under (c) of this section shall be waived. If, during the preceding year, the insurer or adjuster filed 95 percent of the reports on time, 50 percent of the penalties assessed under (c) of this section shall be waived. If, during the preceding year, the insurer's or adjuster's reports have not been filed on time at least 95 percent of the time, none of the penalties assessed under (c) of this section shall be waived. The penalties that are not waived are due and payable when the insurer or adjuster receives notification from the director regarding the timeliness of the reports. If the annual report is not filed by March 1 of each year, the insurer or adjuster shall pay a civil penalty of $100 for the first day the annual report is late and $10 for each additional day the report is late. If the annual report is incomplete when filed, the insurer or adjuster shall pay a civil penalty of $1,000.

(n) If the employer is self-insured or uninsured, the requirements of (c) and (m) of this section apply to the employer.

(o) The director shall promptly notify the division of insurance if the board determines that the employer's insurer has frivolously or unfairly controverted compensation due under this chapter. After receiving notice from the director, the division of insurance shall determine if the insurer has committed an unfair claim settlement practice under AS 21.36.125 .

(p) An employer shall pay interest on compensation that is not paid when due. Interest required under this subsection accrues at the rate specified in AS 09.30.070 (a) that is in effect on the date the compensation is due.

(q) Unless compensation due the employee under this chapter is paid by negotiable instrument that is drawn on a state or federal financial institution, the employer shall increase the weekly rate of compensation due the employee under AS 23.30.175 by two percent.