June 6, 2010

TO ALL INTERESTED COMPANIES

On June 4, 2010, the Kansas Supreme Court issued its opinion in Martinez F. Milburn Enterprises, Inc., and the opinion may be of interest to you.

Martinez claimed injury from a fall and brought a tort claim against Milburn Enterprises. The original hospital bill for treatment of Martinez was approximately $70,000. Due to a P.P.O. discount, the hospital was actually paid approximately $5,000. The trial court ordered that plaintiff could only submit evidence of the $5,000 paid.

The Supreme Court reversed the case and sent it back for trial and established the law in Kansas that in a tort case, the jury can hear evidence of the amount of the original bill from a health care provider but can also hear the evidence of the amount actually paid to satisfy the bill. The jury cannot hear that the payment was or was not made by insurance. In the Martinez case, that means that the plaintiff can present evidence that the hospital bill was $70,000, but the defendant can present evidence that the amount actually paid to satisfy the entire obligation was $5,000. Although the opinion does not specifically state, it is implied that the defendant can also present evidence that the plaintiff owes nothing further on that particular bill.

The rule will apply to any medical expense regardless of whether the bill was paid by private insurance or Medicare. The opinion does not specifically overrule the prior opinion of the Court of Appeals in Bates v. Hogg that stands for the proposition that when the expenses are paid by Medicaid, the plaintiff can only claim the amount actually paid by Medicaid but it may be overruled by implication.

The opinion is not limited to cases filed or heard after a particular date, so it appears that all existing claims should be re-evaluated with the new law in mind. As a practical matter, we anticipate that a plaintiff will have a very difficult time in most cases convincing a jury to award economic damages for medical expenses in excess of what was actually charged and paid.

As has been our practice in the past, I have not enclosed a copy of the opinion with this letter. If you would like to have a copy of the opinion, you can access here.

                                                                       
MANZ SWANSON & MULHERN, P.C.
Paul Hasty, Jr.
7101 College Blvd., Suite 350
Overland Park, KS  66210
Telephone: (913) 317-8068
phasty@msmlawkc.com