Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2635

  • Department: means the Louisiana Department of Health. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2632
  • Fund: means the Traumatic Head and Spinal Cord Injury Trust Fund. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2632
  • Spinal cord injury: means an insult to the spinal cord, not of a degenerative or congenital nature, but caused by an external physical force resulting in paraplegia or quadriplegia. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2632
  • Traumatic head injury: means an insult to the head, affecting the brain, not of a degenerative or congenital nature, but caused by an external physical force that may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness which results in an impairment of cognitive abilities or physical functioning. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2632

            A. Except as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 46:2633(D)(2), money in the trust fund shall be distributed for the sole purpose of funding the cost of care or supportive services for traumatic head and spinal cord injury, including the administrative costs attributable to services provided by the trust fund program. The fund shall be considered as a source of last resort after Medicare and Medicaid sources have been expended for Louisiana citizens.

            B. Authorization of expenditures for spinal cord injury care and head injury care shall be made by the office of aging and adult services, within the Louisiana Department of Health, according to criteria established by the department through administrative rule.

            C. Expenditures may include but are not limited to post-acute medical care rehabilitation, therapies, medication, attendant care, home or vehicle accessibility modifications, and equipment necessary for activities of daily living, provided that such expenses are related to the spinal cord injury or traumatic head injury.

            D.(1) Except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, expenditures on behalf of any one traumatic head or spinal cord injury survivor shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars for any twelve-month period nor fifty thousand dollars in total expenditures.

            (2) If the total expenditures on behalf of any one traumatic head or spinal cord injury survivor exceed fifty thousand dollars, the survivor may be eligible for additional expenditures on behalf of the survivor if funds are appropriated specifically for that purpose in addition to the funds collected pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 46:2633(B), provided that the total amount of expenditures on behalf of any one traumatic head or spinal cord injury survivor shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars per year nor one hundred thousand dollars in total expenditures.

            E. The administrative costs of the program shall be funded and paid for exclusively from the fund.

            Acts 1993, No. 654, §1, eff. June 16, 1993; Acts 1999, No. 526, §1, eff. June 29, 1999; Acts 1999, No. 826, §1; Acts 2000, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 119, §1, eff. April 19, 2000; Acts 2010, No. 939, §8, eff. July 1, 2010; Acts 2012, No. 269, §2, eff. May 25, 2012; Acts 2018, No. 424, §1, eff. May 23, 2018.