 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Ray v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office of the State of Colorado7/14/2005
we vacate interpretations that are clearly erroneous, arbitrary, or otherwise not in accordance with the law. Davison v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 84 P.3d 1023, 1029 (Colo. 2004); Colo. Dep't of Labor & Employment v. Esser, 30 P.3d 189, 194 (Colo. 2001).
Our primary task in construing a statute is to determine and give effect to the intent of the General Assembly. To discern legislative intent, we look primarily to the language of the statute itself, giving the words their plain and ordinary meaning. Kern v. Gebhardt, 746 P.2d 1340, 1344 (Colo. 1987). When the plain language of a statute is free from ambiguity, other rules of statutory construction are unnecessary. Kinder v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 976 P.2d 295 (Colo. App. 1998).
The Workers' Compensation Act is intended to be "remedial and beneficent in purpose, and should be liberally construed" in order to accomplish the General Assembly's goal, inter alia, of assuring the quick and efficient delivery of disability and medical benefits to injured workers at a reasonable cost to employers. Davison v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, supra, 84 P.3d at 1029 (quoting Colo. Counties, Inc. v. Davis, 801 P.2d 10-11 (Colo. App. 1990), aff'd sub nom. County Workers Comp. Pool v. Davis, 817 P.2d 521 (Colo. 1991)).
The term "cost" is not defined in the statute. In the absence of a definition by the General Assembly, the words and phrases used are to be construed according to their generally accepted meaning. Allstate Prods. Co. v. Colo. Dep't of Labor & Employment, 782 P.2d 880, 882 (Colo. App. 1989). Cost is commonly defined as having several meanings. As relevant here, cost can mean "the amount or equivalent paid or given or charged or engaged" for something bought or otherwise acquired or "to have a price of." Webster's Third New International Dictionary 515 (1986). Similarly, cost is defined as "the amount paid or charged for something; price or expenditure." Black's Law Dictionary 371 (8th ed. 2004). As such, cost can mean either an amount actually paid or expended, or simply the stated charge or price for something. The plain meaning of the word "cost" does not require payment to have been made.
The statute was enacted to ensure that disabled claimants would have access to funds for the purchase of similar or lesser health insurance when the employer no longer pays part of the premium for health insurance. Humane Soc'y v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 26 P.3d 546 (Colo. App. 2001); Schelly v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 961 P.2d 547 (Colo. App. 1997). In Humane Society, a division of this court acknowledged that when an employer stops insurance contributions, the claimant "may lose the advantage of group rates and be forced to purchase insurance at higher individual rates." Humane Soc'y, supra, 26 P.3d at 549.
The legislative history of § 8-40-201(19)(b) reveals that the statute was intended to value health insurance as a part of an employee's wages once the employer stopped paying the premiums. A sponsoring senator explained that the relevant provision "adds the cost of health care if not continued by the employer." See Midboe v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 88 P.3d 643, 645 (Colo. App. 2003) (quoting Hearings on H.B. 89-1322 before the Senate Committee on Business Affairs and Labor, 57th General Assembly, 1st Session (Mar. 15, 1989)(remarks of Senator Norton)).
The General Assembly did not qualify the word "cost" in any manner in § 8-40-201(19)(b). In the absence of any such qualifying language, employer's argument would require us to interpret the section in a manner that would be contrary to the intent of the legislature.
The division in Humane Society, supra, 26
Page 1 2 3 4 Colorado Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|