§46.1.  Amounts received under accident and health plans

A.  Amounts attributable to employer contributions.  Except as otherwise provided in this Section, amounts received by an employee through accident or health insurance for personal injuries or sickness shall be included in gross income to the extent such amounts (1) are attributable to contributions by the employer which were not includible in the gross income of the employee, or (2) are paid by the employer.  

B.  Amounts expended for medical care.  Gross income does not include amounts referred to in Sub-section A if such amounts are paid, directly or indirectly, to the taxpayer to reimburse the taxpayer for expenses incurred by him for the medical care of the taxpayer, his spouse, and his dependents (as defined in R.S. 47:79(3)).

C.  Payments unrelated to absence from work.  Gross income does not include amounts referred to in Sub-section A to the extent such amounts:

(1)  constitute payment for the permanent loss or loss of use of a member or function of the body, or the permanent disfigurement, of the taxpayer, his spouse, or a dependent (as defined in R.S. 47:79(3)), and

(2)  are computed with reference to the nature of the injury without regard to the period the employee is absent from work.  

D.  Wage continuation plans.  Gross income does not include amounts referred to in Sub-section A if such amounts constitute wages or payments in lieu of wages for a period during which the employee is absent from work on account of personal injuries or sickness; but this Sub-section shall not apply to the extent that such amounts exceed a weekly rate of $100.00.  In the case of a period during which the employee is absent from work on account of sickness, the preceding sentence shall not apply to amounts attributable to the first 7 calendar days in such period unless the employee is hospitalized on account of sickness for at least one day during such period.  If such amounts are not paid on the basis of a weekly pay period, the collector shall by regulations prescribe the method of determining the weekly rate at which such amounts are paid.  

E.  Accident and health plans.  For purposes of this Section and R.S. 47:46:

(1)  amounts received under an accident or health plan for employees, and

(2)  amounts received from a sickness and disability fund for employees maintained under the law of a state, a territory, or the District of Columbia, shall be treated as amounts received through accident or health insurance.  

Added by Acts 1958, No. 242, §10.