TITLE 34 LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Section 9. Workers' Compensation, 34-9-1 through 34-9-432.

ARTICLE 10 SELF-INSURERS GUARANTY TRUST FUND

34-9-382. Establishment of Self-insurers Guaranty Trust Fund; use of fund; application to be accepted in fund.

1. There is established a Self-insurers Guaranty Trust Fund for the sole purpose of making payments in accordance with this article. The fund shall be administered by an administrator appointed by the chairperson of the board of trustees with the approval of the board of trustees. All moneys in the fund shall be held in trust and shall not be money or property of the state or the participants and shall be exempt from levy, attachment, garnishment, or civil judgment for any claim or cause of action other than for not making payments in accordance with this article. The fund assets shall be invested only in obligations issued or guaranteed by the United States government.
2. All returns on investments shall be retained by the fund. The funds of the Self-insurers Guaranty Trust Fund shall be for the purposes of compensating employees or their dependents who are eligible to receive workers' compensation benefits from their employers pursuant to the provisions of this chapter when, pursuant to this Code section, the board has determined that compensation benefits due are unpaid or interrupted due to the insolvency or default of a participant. Moneys in the fund may be used to compensate an employee or his or her dependents for any type of injury or occupational disease or death, including medical or rehabilitation expenses which are compensable under this chapter against a participant, and all claims for related administrative fees, operating costs of the fund, attorneys' fees incurred by the board of trustees or at its direction, and other costs reasonably incurred by the board of trustees. Payment from the Self-insurers Guaranty Trust Fund shall be made in accordance with this chapter.
3. As a condition of self-insurance, all private employers, except those precluded from membership in the fund pursuant to subsection (d) of this Code section, shall make application to and be accepted in the Self-insurers Guaranty Trust Fund.
4. Membership in the fund shall not be permitted for any of the following:
   1. Any governmental employer authorized by the board to self-insure;
   2. Any employer who elects to group self-insure pursuant to Code Section 34-9-152;
   3. Captive insurers as provided for in Chapter 41 of Title 33;
   4. Any employer who, pursuant to any reciprocal agreements or contracts of indemnity executed prior to March 8, 1960, created funds for the purpose of satisfying the obligations of self-insured employers under this chapter; or
   5. Any individual or company who:
      1. Enters into a contract or agreement with an employer under which the employer outsources its workers' compensation risks, responsibilities, obligations, or liabilities to such individual or company; and
      2. Pursuant to such contract or agreement, is required to provide workers' compensation benefits to an injured employee even though no common-law master-servant relationship or contract of employment exists between the injured employee and the individual or company providing the benefits.

(Code 1981, §34-9-382, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 770, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 126, § 4/HB 1101; Ga. L. 2016, p. 287, § 8/HB 818.)

The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, substituted the present provisions of the fourth sentence of subsection (a) for the former provisions, which read: "The board of trustees shall be authorized to invest the moneys of the fund in the same manner as provided by law for investments in government backed securities."; substituted the present provisions of subsection (c) for the former provisions, which read: "As a condition of self-insurance, all private employers, except any governmental self-insurer or other employer who elects to group self-insure pursuant to Code Section 34-9-152, captive insurers as provided for in Chapter 41 of Title 33, or employers who, pursuant to any reciprocal agreements or contracts of indemnity executed prior to March 8, 1960, created funds for the purpose of satisfying the obligations of self-insured employers under this chapter, must make application to and be accepted in the Self-insurers Guaranty Trust Fund."; and added subsection (d).