§ 176.179 — Recovery of Overpayments
Plain-Language Summary
If an insurer or employer overpays workers' compensation benefits, they can recover the overpayment by reducing future benefit payments. However, they cannot reduce temporary total disability payments below a minimum amount, and must notify the employee before taking the offset.
176.179 RECOVERY OF OVERPAYMENTS.
Notwithstanding section 176.521, subdivision 3, or any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, except as provided in this section, no lump-sum or weekly payment, or settlement, which is voluntarily paid to an injured employee or the survivors of a deceased employee in apparent or seeming accordance with the provisions of this chapter by an employer or insurer, or is paid pursuant to an order of the workers’ compensation division, a compensation judge, or court of appeals relative to a claim by an injured employee or the employee’s survivors, and received in good faith by the employee or the employee’s survivors shall be refunded to the paying employer or insurer in the event that it is subsequently determined that the payment was made under a mistake in fact or law by the employer or insurer. When the payments have been made to a person who is entitled to receive further payments of compensation for the same injury, the mistaken compensation may be taken as a partial credit against future periodic benefits. The credit applied against further payments of temporary total disability, temporary partial disability, permanent partial disability, permanent total disability, retraining benefits, death benefits, or weekly payments of economic recovery or impairment compensation shall not exceed 20 percent of the amount that would otherwise be payable.
An employer or insurer may not offset an overpayment of benefits against:
(1) medical expenses due or payable; or
(2) a penalty awarded to the employee for late payment or underpayment of benefits.
Where the commissioner or compensation judge determines that the mistaken compensation was not received in good faith, the commissioner or compensation judge may order reimbursement of the compensation. For purposes of this section, a payment is not received in good faith if it is obtained through fraud, or if the employee knew that the compensation was paid under mistake of fact or law, and the employee has not refunded the mistaken compensation.
History:
1974 c 486 s 5; 1975 c 271 s 6; 1975 c 359 s 23; 1976 c 134 s 78; Ex1979 c 3 s 49; 1983 c 290 s 112; 1986 c 461 s 23; 1987 c 332 s 45; 1992 c 510 art 1 s 11; 1995 c 231 art 1 s 26; 2009 c 75 s 10
History: History: 1974 c 486 s 5; 1975 c 271 s 6; 1975 c 359 s 23; 1976 c 134 s 78; Ex1979 c 3 s 49; 1983 c 290 s 112; 1986 c 461 s 23; 1987 c 332 s 45; 1992 c 510 art 1 s 11; 1995 c 231 art 1 s 26; 2009 c 75 s 10