§ 88-c. Coverage of state employees. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary and except as set forth in section two hundred and twelve-a of this chapter, the liability of the state for the payment of compensation under this chapter heretofore existing or hereinafter arising shall be secured by an insuring agreement to be entered into between the department of civil service and the state insurance fund wherein the state, from moneys appropriated therefor, shall pay in advance to the fund on a periodic basis the actual costs to the fund for the meeting and paying, as the same become due and payable, all obligations incurred under this chapter by the state as an employer. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the fund may on an actuarially sound basis provide to the state insurance for any portion of the obligations of the state as employer under this chapter with respect to injuries or deaths resulting from accidents arising out of and in the course of employment on or after April first, nineteen hundred eighty-one. All such payments made by the state and paid into the state fund shall constitute a separate account in the fund to be used solely for the purpose of discharging all compensation obligations of the state pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and in accordance with the insuring agreement as provided in this section. Any portion of the account may be invested in the same manner as the assets of the fund as provided in section eighty-seven of this article. The liability of the fund for the payment of any claims or the meeting of any obligations of the state as an employer as provided in this chapter shall not exceed the moneys paid into such separate account and any increments or diminutions thereof. The agreement shall further provide that the fund shall render all services and make all reasonable expenditures necessary or required for the processing, defense and payment of all claims under this chapter, including the protection of liens, subrogation, credit and other rights of the state as an employer or the fund as an insurer, in situations where the employees' injuries or deaths were caused by culpability of third parties. Except to the extent that the state obtains insurance on an actuarially sound basis pursuant to the provisions of this section, the provisions of section eighty-six of this chapter with respect to the maintenance of reserves for the purpose of meeting anticipated compensation losses, shall not in any manner be applicable to claims of employees of the state with respect to injuries or deaths resulting from accidents arising out of and in the course of employment prior to April first, nineteen hundred eighty-one, or to an insuring agreement entered into between the state insurance fund and the department of civil service in accordance with the provisions of this section.