Document File
Oklahoma’s attorney general spelled out just what “annual obligations” meant when it came to the state’s Multiple Injury Trust Fund.
Document
In re Question Submitted by Kannad, No. 2026 OK AG 14 (Okla. Atty. Gen. 09/09/26)
What Happened?
An Oklahoma legislator asked the attorney general to clarify what constitutes the Multiple Injury Trust Fund’s (MITF) “annual obligations” for purposes of calculating the yearly assessment charged to insurers and self-insurers under the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act.
Rule of Law
In Oklahoma, Multiple Injury Trust Fund was created by the Legislature for a single purpose: “to insulate employers from having to pay permanent total disability benefits to a previously impaired worker who suffers an additional work-related injury which prevents the worker from returning to any gainful employment.”
To fund the MITF, the Administrative Workers’ Compensation Act directs the Workers’ Compensation Commission to establish an annual assessment rate—applicable to every insurer and self-insurer doing business in Oklahoma—in an amount “necessary to pay the annual obligations” of the Fund for that calendar year. 8
For purposes of setting this yearly assessment rate, the MITF Director is solely responsible for calculating and providing the Commission with a reasonable forecast of the Fund’s “annual obligations.”
What the Oklahoma Attorney General Said
While the Act has no standalone definition for “annual obligations,” it lists the Fund’s various liabilities and spending responsibilities. Those liabilities and responsibilities comprise the annual obligations of the MITF: permanent total disability awards (plus accumulating interest) and any reasonably projected compromise settlements of those awards, along with the Fund’s annual payment to the Oklahoma Department of Labor, authorized reinsurance agreements, outstanding loan installments, any unpaid obligations carried forward from previous years, and all administrative expenses incurred by the Fund.
The attorney general detailed that the “applicable portions of the Act empower and instruct” the MITF to make several types of payments:
Permanent total disability (PTD) benefits awarded to eligible claimants
Compromise settlements of PTD claims;Interest accruing on unpaid awards
Administrative expenses
The Fund’s annual $1 million payment to the Oklahoma Department of Labor Revolving Fund;Reinsurance obligations
Loan repayment obligations
Unpaid liabilities carried forward from prior years
The Fund’s primary annual obligation, the attorney general pointed out, “by far, arises from permanent total disability awards.” Such awards in Oklahoma are payable in periodic installments for a period of eight years or until the employee reaches age 65, whichever period is longer.
Glossary Check: In Oklahoma, “permanent total disability” means, based on objective findings, incapacity, based upon accidental injury or occupational disease, to earn wages in any employment for which the employee may become physically suited and reasonably fitted by education, training, experience or vocational rehabilitation.
As a bottom line, the attorney general stressed that the “official opinion” was:
“The ‘annual obligations’ of the Multiple Injury Trust Fund are the spending categories enumerated within title 85A, sections 31 and 32 of the Oklahoma Statutes: permanent total disability awards, compromise settlements of such awards, and all other authorized expenses and liabilities, as determined by the MITF Director’s reasonable fiscal forecast for the upcoming calendar year.”
Takeaway
In Oklahoma, the MITF Director’s power to determine annual obligations is directly tied to the purposes for which the Fund’s revenue may be spent. The MITF Director shall determine the Fund’s annual obligations based on a reasonably expected projection of all foreseeable annual spending within the designated categories established under title 85A, sections 31 and 32.
