Ever since the California Supreme Court decided Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc., 52 Cal 4th 541 (2013), California’s lower courts have been dealing with the billed vs. paid issue. The opinion of Corenbaum v. Lampkin, 214 Cal.App.4th 1308 (2013) is an example. An intoxicated Lampkin drove his car and hit the taxi in which Corenbaum was a passenger. Cornebaum’s medical insurance paid his bills but at a discounted rate. In other words, the medical providers accepted the … [Read more...]
Nevada Kicks The Can Down The Road On The “Billed Vs. Paid” Issue
February 14, 2013 by
Plaintiffs often hope to recover a medical provider’s higher “billed” rate, even though the same medical provider accepts in full satisfaction a lesser “paid” amount from an insurance company. We noted HERE that some states have either refused to allow evidence of the higher “billed” amount or have allowed rebuttal evidence that the doctor accepted the lower “paid” amount in satisfaction of the bill. As reported HERE, the Nevada Supreme Court case of Tri-County Equip. & Leasing, LLC., v. … [Read more...]
“Billed vs. Paid” Controversy Across The Country
May 10, 2012 by
In December, 2011, the Nevada Law Blogs addressed the question of whether the Nevada Supreme Court would limit Plaintiffs to presenting evidence of the amount that their medical providers accepted in full payment, rather than allowing Plaintiffs to present evidence of the much higher unadjusted bill. See HERE. The Nevada Supreme Court decision still has not come down. Even so, discussions from other states regarding this topic have taken off. For example, on Linked In, attorneys from the … [Read more...]
Will The Howell Doctrine Come To Nevada?
December 29, 2011 by
In an earlier post HERE we reported that in Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc., the California Supreme Court faced the question of what was the appropriate amount of an injured plaintiff’s recovery. Should plaintiff recover the amount billed for the medical treatment? Or should the Plaintiff recover the reduced amount that the health care insurance company had paid to satisfy the doctor’s bill? In Howell, the California Supreme Court found that an injured plaintiff could recover … [Read more...]
Responding To The Anticipated Fallout Of The Haygood And Howell Decisions
December 6, 2011 by
No one is surprised when people who are hurt in accidents go to the doctor’s office for care. In the past, many went to doctors who provided them care through their group health insurance programs. These group healthcare providers usually have pre-negotiated reimbursement agreements with the group health insurance carriers. Those insurance carriers pay the providers a sum certain for each service provided. The pre-negotiated reimbursement agreements normally prevent the doctors from charging … [Read more...]
