13.4 Other States, USL&H, and Federal Acts

Coverage Beyond the Home State

Part One only pays for states listed in Item 3.A of the Information Page. A worker who travels to or is hired in an unlisted state can leave the employer dangerously exposed. The fix is the Other States Insurance provision in Item 3.C.

Item 3.C lists states where coverage will apply if operations later begin there, automatically extending Part One benefits without a new policy. The classic trap: never list a monopolistic-fund state (Ohio, North Dakota, Washington, Wyoming) in 3.C — coverage there can only be bought from the state fund, so a private 'all states except...' wording is used and those states are explicitly excluded.

Item 3 Map

Monopolistic states require coverage from the state fund only; private insurers cannot write Part One there, though they can sell stop-gap employers liability to fill the Part Two void those funds leave open.

USL&H and the Jones Act

Maritime employment falls outside ordinary state acts. The United States Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (USL&H) is a federal no-fault act covering employees who load, unload, repair, or build vessels on navigable waters and adjoining piers/docks — but not the crew of a vessel. Coverage is added by the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act Coverage Endorsement (WC 00 01 06).

The Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act) is different: it is not no-fault. It gives seamen (crew members) a negligence right of action against the employer — a tort remedy, not a benefit schedule. Jones Act exposure is covered under Part Two / a Maritime Coverage Endorsement, because it is a liability (lawsuit) exposure, not a statutory-benefit exposure.

Other Federal Acts

Several federal acts each demand their own endorsement:

• Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) — covers interstate railroad workers; like the Jones Act it is fault-based (negligence), not no-fault.
• Federal Black Lung Benefits Act — covers coal miners with pneumoconiosis; added by a Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act endorsement.
• Defense Base Act — extends USL&H principles to workers on U.S. military bases and government contracts overseas.
• Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act — farm-labor obligations.

Exam trap: USL&H, Black Lung, and the Defense Base Act are no-fault benefit acts; FELA and the Jones Act are negligence (fault-based) liability remedies.

Extraterritorial and Reciprocity Rules

When a worker normally based in one state is temporarily sent to another, extraterritorial provisions generally let the home-state act follow the worker for a limited period, avoiding a coverage gap. Many states have reciprocity agreements recognizing each other's coverage so a visiting worker need not be separately insured. But protections lapse if the assignment becomes permanent or exceeds the statutory window — at which point the destination state must appear in Item 3.A or 3.C.

This is exactly why Item 3.C (Other States) matters: a contractor who lists 'all states except [monopolistic and listed]' is automatically covered the day work starts in a new jurisdiction, instead of discovering a gap after an injury. The recurring trap is a worker injured in a state that is in neither 3.A nor 3.C — there the employer may have no coverage and faces direct statutory liability.

Federal Acts at a Glance

Memorize the fault column: only the Jones Act and FELA require the worker to prove the employer was negligent; the rest pay on a no-fault basis like state acts.

Monopolistic vs. Competitive States and Stop-Gap

A handful of monopolistic states require employers to buy comp from a state fund only; private insurers cannot write Part One there, so the standard policy's Part Two (employers' liability) is unavailable in those states. Employers in monopolistic states add a stop-gap endorsement to their CGL to restore employers'-liability protection. In competitive states, private carriers sell the standard policy, optionally backed by a state fund acting as a market of last resort (the assigned-risk pool).

Federal Acts the Exam Tests

State comp does not reach certain workers, so federal acts apply:

• USL&HW Act — longshore and harbor workers injured on navigable waters/adjoining areas (added by the USL&H endorsement).
• Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act) — seamen, who sue the employer for negligence (no schedule of benefits).
• FELA — interstate railroad workers, also a fault-based negligence remedy.
• Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) — civilian federal employees.
• Defense Base Act — civilians on overseas U.S. military bases.