Our courts have similarly defined "payment" as "the discharge of an obligation; it may be made in money, kind or anything of equivalent value." Thomas v. Bd. of Rev., Div. of Emp. Sec., 83 N.J. Super. 91, 97, 199 A.2d 33 (App.Div. 1964), rev'd on other grounds, 43 N.J. 549 (1965); emphasis supplied. In Thomas the word was defined in the context of the Temporary Disability Benefits Law, N.J.S.A. 43:21-25 et seq.
N.J.S.A. 39:6A-6 does not identify the benefits as "state plan benefits"; rather it uses the term "employee's temporary disability benefit statutes." In order to ascertain the meaning of these words, recourse must be had to the purpose for which the statute was enacted and the mischief it was intended to eliminate, and all parts of the statute must be read so they are in alignment with the intent of the entire act. [ Thomas v. Board of Review, 43 N.J. 549, 552 (1965)] The "mischief" aimed at was high costs occasioned by double recoveries.