No. 89-345 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

1990 

ED FRANCK, 

Claimant and Respondent, 

-vsNATIONAL LOG CONSTRUCTION CO., 

Employer, 

and 

STATE COMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND, 

Defendant and Appellant. 

APPEAL FROM: The Workers' Compensation Court, The Honorable 

Timothy Reardon, Judge presiding. 

COUNSEL OF RECORD: 

For Appellant: 

Nancy Butler and Elizabeth A. Horsman, State Comp. 

Ins. Fund, Helena, Montana 

For Respondent: 

Edward K. Duckworth, Ronan, Montana 

Filed: 

Submitted on Briefs: Oct. 25, 1989 

Decided : March 2, 1990 

* 
Justice William E. Hunt, Sr., delivered the Opinion of the Court. 

The State compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) appeals 

from a declaratory ruling issued by the Workers1 Compensation 

Court, holding that the statutory discount to present value 

provided for in 5 39-71-741, MCA (1985), does not apply to 

permanent partial disability benefits. We affirm. 

The sole issue raised on appeal is whether a claimant who is 

deemed permanently totally disabled and who seeks a lump-sum 

conversion of future benefits under 5 39-71-741, MCA (1985), is 

subject to a discount of all benefits, including future partial 

permanent disability benefits paid as a result of the receipt of 

retirement social security benefits. 

In March, 1986, claimant, Edward Franck, suffered an 

industrial injury while employed with National Log Construction 

Company. At that time, the employer was enrolled under 

Compensation Plan No. 3 of the Workers' Compensation Act and was 

insured by State Fund. 

Claimant was deemed permanently totally disabled. State Fund 

accepted liability for his injuries and paid medical and disability 

benefits. 

Claimant, who is currently 62 years old, sought a lump-sum 

conversion of his disability benefits pursuant to 5 39-71-741, MCA 

(1985). Negotiations over the lump-sum conversion reached an 

impasse when the parties disagreed over which payments were subject 

to the statutory discount to present value. State Fund contended 

that the discount applied to claimant's permanent total disability 

payments as well as the 500 weeks of permanent partial benefits 

claimant would be paid once he attained the age of 65 and began 

receiving retirement social security benefits. Claimant maintained 

that the discount applied only to the permanent total disability 

payments, not to the permanent partial benefits. 
Seeking to resolve the dispute, claimant filed a petition with 

the Workersr Compensation Court. Following briefing, the Court 

issued a declaratory ruling in favor of claimant, holding that the 

statutory discount did not apply to claimant's permanent partial 

disability benefits. The State Fund appealed to this Court. 

At issue in the present case is the interplay of B 39-71-741, 

MCA (1985), which governs the conversion of future disability 

benefits into a lump-sum payment, and 39-71-710, MCA (1985), 

which governs the disposition of total disability benefits upon 

retirement. The former statute provides as follows: 

(1) The biweekly payments provided for in this chapter 

may be converted, in whole or in part, into a lump-sum 

payment. Regardless of the date of the injury or of a 

prior lump-sum payment, a lump-sum conversion of 

permanent total biweekly pavments awarded or paid after 

April 15, 1985, must equal the estimated present value 

of the total unpaid permanent total biweekly payments, 

assuminq interest at 7% per year, compounded annually, 

unless the conversion improves the financial condition 

of the worker or his beneficiary, as provided in 

subsection (2) (b) . If the estimated duration of the 

compensation period is the remaining life expectancy of 

the claimant or the claimant's beneficiary, the remaining 

life expectancy must be determined by using the most 

recent table of life expectancy in years as published by 

the United States national center for health statistics. 

(Emphasis added.) 

Section 39-71-741, MCA (1985). The latter statute reads: 

If a claimant is receiving total disability compensation 

benefits and the claimant receives retirement social 

security benefits or disability social security benefits 

paid to the claimant are converted by law to retirement 

benefits, the claimant is considered to be retired and 

no longer in the open labor market. When the claimant 

is considered retired, the liability of the insurer is 

ended for payment of such compensation benefits. This 

section does not apply to permanent partial disability 

benefits. Medical benefits are expressly reserved to the 

claimant. 

Section 39-71-710, MCA (1985). 

In Hunter v. ~ibson Products of Billings Heights, Inc. (1986) , 

224 Mont. 481, 730 P.2d 1139, we examined the effect of B 39-71- 
710, MCA (1985), upon the disability benefits of a permanently 

totally disabled claimant who turned 65 and began receiving social 

security retirement benefits. We held that, upon retirement, the 

totally disabled claimant's benefits were converted to permanent 

partial benefits and the insurer, although no longer liable for 

total disability payments, remained liable for partial disability 

payments. 

The difficulty in the present case arises from the fact that 

a permanently totally disabled claimant wishes to receive a lumpsum conversion of future benefits under § 39-71-741, MCA (1985). 

In such a situation, does the statutory discount to present value 

apply to both the claimant's permanent total disability benefits 

and the claimant's permanent partial benefits? 

The question is easily resolved. The statute is unambiguous 

and clear on its face. While the language applicable to 

discounting specifically refers to permanent total biweekly 

payments, it makes no mention of permanent partial benefits. 

[A] lump sum conversion of permanent total biweekly 

payments . . . must equal the estimated present value of 

the total unpaid permanent total biweekly payments. . . (Emphasis added.) 

section 39-71-741, MCA (1985). 

As the discounting language of the statute makes no reference 

to permanent partial benefits, we will not insert such a provision 

into the statute. Section 1-2-101, MCA. We hold that the discount 

to present value provided for in 5 39-71-741, MCA (1985), applies 

only to permanent total disability payments. The discount does not 

apply to permanent partial disability payments even though the 
claimant is eligible for permanent partial payments because of his 

status as a permanently totally disabled claimant who has reached 

the age of 65 and has retired. 

Affirmed. 

We Concur: