Pupil Injury Insurance Fund

There is hereby created a fund to be administered by the Director of the Division of General Services to provide major medical benefits for bodily injuries to school bus passengers when the cost exceeds the benefits provided for in subsection (1)(a) of Section 59-67-710 of the 1976 Code. No claim shall exceed fifty thousand dollars for any one person for any one accident. The Director of the Division of General Services shall pay into the Pupil Injury Insurance Fund that portion of the premiums charged to the State Department of Education for providing insurance covering buses he deems necessary to maintain the Pupil Injury Insurance Fund at an actuarially sound level sufficient to pay the benefits authorized by this section. No payment from the Pupil Injury Insurance Fund shall be permitted when other insurance benefits or workers' compensation is available to pay such cost or where no charge is made for treatment. Whoever shall file a claim for payment from the Pupil Injury Insurance Fund shall at the same time file an affidavit swearing under oath that the requested claim is not covered by other insurance benefits or workers' compensation to be received for that claim; provided, this shall not apply to any injured school bus passenger who receives, for bodily injuries, an amount not exceeding three thousand dollars under Section 59-67-710(1)(b) of the 1976 Code. Any recovery from the State or governmental entity under Chapter 78 of Title 15 of the 1976 Code shall be reduced by the sum received pursuant to this section. In any recovery from a third party, the State shall have a right of subrogation for recovery of payments pursuant to this section. The Director of the Division of General Services, with the approval of the Department of Administration, shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.