NRS616C.440. Amount and duration of compensation; limitations; effect of previous award of compensation.

      1.  Except as otherwise provided in this section and NRS 616C.175, every employee in the employ of an employer, within the provisions of chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS, who is injured by accident arising out of and in the course of employment, or his or her dependents as defined in chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS, is entitled to receive the following compensation for permanent total disability:

      (a) In cases of total disability adjudged to be permanent, compensation per month of 66 2/3 percent of the average monthly wage.

      (b) If there is a previous disability, as the loss of one eye, one hand, one foot or any other previous permanent disability, the percentage of disability for a subsequent injury must be determined by computing the percentage of the entire disability and deducting therefrom the percentage of the previous disability as it existed at the time of the subsequent injury, but such a deduction for a previous award for permanent partial disability must be made in a reasonable manner and must not be more than the total amount which was paid for the previous award for permanent partial disability. The total amount of the allowable deduction includes, without limitation, compensation for a permanent partial disability that was deducted from:

             (1) Any compensation the employee received for a temporary total disability; or

             (2) Any other compensation received by the employee.

      (c) If the character of the injury is such as to render the employee so physically helpless as to require the service of a constant attendant, an additional allowance may be made so long as such requirements continue, but the allowance may not be made while the employee is receiving benefits for care in a hospital or facility for intermediate care pursuant to the provisions of NRS 616C.265.

      2.  Except as otherwise provided in NRS 616B.028 and 616B.029, an injured employee or his or her dependents are not entitled to accrue or be paid any benefits for a permanent total disability during the time the injured employee is incarcerated. The injured employee or his or her dependents are entitled to receive those benefits when the injured employee is released from incarceration if the injured employee is certified as permanently totally disabled by a physician or chiropractor.

      3.  An employee is entitled to receive compensation for a permanent total disability only so long as the permanent total disability continues to exist. The insurer has the burden of proving that the permanent total disability no longer exists.

      4.  If an employee who has received compensation in a lump sum for a permanent partial disability pursuant to NRS 616C.495 is subsequently determined to be permanently and totally disabled, the insurer of the employee’s employer shall recover pursuant to this subsection the actual amount of the lump sum paid to the employee for the permanent partial disability. The insurer shall not recover from the employee, whether by deductions or single payment, or a combination of both, more than the actual amount of the lump sum paid to the employee. To recover the actual amount of the lump sum, the insurer shall:

      (a) Unless the employee submits a request described in paragraph (b), deduct from the compensation for the permanent total disability an amount that is not more than 10 percent of the rate of compensation for a permanent total disability until the actual amount of the lump sum paid to the employee for the permanent partial disability is recovered; or

      (b) Upon the request of the employee, accept in a single payment from the employee an amount that is equal to the actual amount of the lump sum paid to the employee for the permanent partial disability, less the actual amount of all deductions made to date by the insurer from the employee for repayment of the lump sum.

      [Part 59:168:1947; A 1949, 659; 1951, 485; 1953, 292; 1955, 901]—(NRS A 1959, 614; 1961, 278; 1965, 319; 1966, 42; 1969, 472; 1971, 322; 1973, 530; 1985, 1765; 1993, 746; 1995, 2154; 1997, 3347; 1999, 1788; 2003, 481)