HF 3408

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to insurance; no-fault auto; regulating 
  1.3             disability and income loss benefits; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 65B.44, subdivision 3.
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 65B.44, 
  1.7   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subd. 3.  [DISABILITY AND INCOME LOSS BENEFITS.] Disability 
  1.9   and income loss benefits shall provide compensation for 85 
  1.10  percent of the injured person's loss of present and future gross 
  1.11  income from inability to work proximately caused by the nonfatal 
  1.12  injury subject to a maximum of $250 $500 per week.  Loss of 
  1.13  income includes the costs incurred by a self-employed person to 
  1.14  hire substitute employees to perform tasks which are necessary 
  1.15  to maintain the income of the injured person, which are normally 
  1.16  performed by the injured person, and which cannot be performed 
  1.17  because of the injury.  
  1.18     If the injured person is unemployed at the time of injury 
  1.19  and is receiving or is eligible to receive unemployment benefits 
  1.20  under chapter 268, but the injured person loses eligibility for 
  1.21  those benefits because of inability to work caused by the 
  1.22  injury, disability and income loss benefits shall provide 
  1.23  compensation for the lost benefits in an amount equal to the 
  1.24  unemployment benefits which otherwise would have been payable, 
  1.25  subject to a maximum of $250 $500 per week.  
  2.1      Compensation under this subdivision shall be reduced by any 
  2.2   income from substitute work actually performed by the injured 
  2.3   person or by income the injured person would have earned in 
  2.4   available appropriate substitute work which the injured person 
  2.5   was capable of performing but unreasonably failed to undertake. 
  2.6      For the purposes of this section "inability to work" means 
  2.7   disability which prevents the injured person from engaging in 
  2.8   any substantial gainful occupation or employment on a regular 
  2.9   basis, for wage or profit, for which the injured person is or 
  2.10  may by training become reasonably qualified.  If the injured 
  2.11  person returns to employment and is unable by reason of the 
  2.12  injury to work continuously, compensation for lost income shall 
  2.13  be reduced by the income received while the injured person is 
  2.14  actually able to work.  The weekly maximums may not be prorated 
  2.15  to arrive at a daily maximum, even if the injured person does 
  2.16  not incur loss of income for a full week.  
  2.17     For the purposes of this section, an injured person who is 
  2.18  "unable by reason of the injury to work continuously" includes, 
  2.19  but is not limited to, a person who misses time from work, 
  2.20  including reasonable travel time, and loses income, vacation, or 
  2.21  sick leave benefits, to obtain medical treatment for an injury 
  2.22  arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle. 
  2.23     The commissioner of commerce shall change the dollar 
  2.24  amounts in this subdivision on April 1, 2001, and each 
  2.25  subsequent year to include an increase in these figures in the 
  2.26  proportion that the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), published by 
  2.27  the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, has increased 
  2.28  during the whole calendar years since December 31, 1999.  Any 
  2.29  increase must be rounded to the nearest $25 of the statutory 
  2.30  amount.  The commissioner shall publish the adjusted figures in 
  2.31  the state register.