Bozeman v. State, Department of Transportation & Development

839 So. 2d 960, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 524, 2003 WL 730685
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 5, 2003
DocketNos. 36,665-CA, 36,803-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 839 So. 2d 960 (Bozeman v. State, Department of Transportation & Development) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bozeman v. State, Department of Transportation & Development, 839 So. 2d 960, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 524, 2003 WL 730685 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

h STEWART, J.

This matter involves two related appeals which have been consolidated.1 The first is an appeal by Linda Bozeman, the plaintiff, whose claim for medical expenses stemming from the death of her husband was remanded for retrial in Bozeman v. State-DOTD, 34,430 (La.App.2d Cir.4/4/01), 787 So.2d 357, writ denied, 2001-1341 (La.6/29/01), 794 So.2d 813. On remand, the trial court reduced the award of medical expenses by applying Terrell v. Nanda, 33,242 (La.App.2d Cir.5/10/00), 759 So.2d 1026, which holds that the amounts “written-off’ or “contractually adjusted” pursuant to the requirements of the Medicaid program are not recoverable as damages. On appeal, the plaintiff challenges the application of the Terrell holding and the amount of medical expenses awarded by the trial court.

[962]*962The second appeal is by the Department of Health and Hospitals (“DHH”), which appeals the denial of its motion to withdraw funds from the registry of the court. DHH filed this motion to recover medical expenses paid by Medicaid on behalf of the plaintiffs late husband, Tommy Bozeman.

For the reasons to be explained, we amend the trial court’s judgment as to the award of medical expenses, and we affirm the judgment denying DHH’s motion.

FACTS

This matter arises from a single car automobile accident on May 12, 1993, which resulted in the injury and subsequent death of Tommy 1 ¡.Bozeman. Specific facts of the accident are set forth in Bozeman v. State-DOTD, supra. Tommy Bozeman’s medical care was largely paid for by Medicaid, a federal and state funded program which provides payment for medical care for eligible individuals qualifying for public assistance. 42 U.S.C. § 1396; La. R.S. 46:151 and La. R.S. 46:153. Linda Bozeman, individually and on behalf of Tommy, sued the State/DOTD (hereinafter “DOTD”). The trial court found DOTD liable for damages due to an unreasonably dangerous condition of the shoulder of the highway where the accident occurred and assessed seventy-five percent of the fault to DOTD. Tommy Bozeman was assessed with twenty-five percent of the fault for the accident. In Bozeman, supra, this court affirmed the trial court’s judgment except as to the award of medical expenses, which had been appealed by DOTD. The trial court had awarded Boze-man $613,626.64 in medical expenses.

DOTD argued on appeal that the trial court erred in failing to give a credit for medical expenses paid by Medicaid. In its answer to the plaintiffs petition, DOTD alluded to Medicaid payments by alleging that the State would “pay for the injuries sustained by the said Tommy Bozeman in one way or another for the rest of his natural life.” The award of medical expenses was based on a joint exhibit, J-l, introduced by the parties. J-l consisted of a 93-page Medicaid printout of 592 itemized claims from medical providers. The printout purported to show the claims approved, denied, and paid by Medicaid on behalf of Tommy Bozeman. Copies of invoices were also introduced by the plaintiffs, but some of these were | ^duplicates of claims included on J-l. At trial, the parties also referred to a settlement with Chrysler, a defendant in a companion suit stemming from the same accident. The separate suits had not been consolidated. There was also reference to a lien by DHH in the Chrysler suit for recovery of Medicaid expenses. However, the Chrysler suit had not been made part of the record in Bozeman’s suit against DOTD.

In reviewing the trial court’s award of special damages, this court could not reconstruct the individual expense charges listed in the trial court’s reasons for judgment from the evidence in the record. Moreover, the trial court’s denial of DOTD’s request for a credit for Medicaid payments occurred before the Terrell decision, which addressed the effect of Medicaid payments on awards for medical expenses. Although DOTD had failed to consider the implication of the Terrell decision on appeal from the award of medical expenses, this court concluded that DOTD’s assignment of error pertained to the effect of J-l on the award of medical expenses and that the introduction of J-l expanded the pleadings to include the issue of offset pertaining to Medicaid payments. The court then remanded the matter for retrial of the medical expenses issue to allow the trial court to “fix the amount of special damages for medical expenses in view of the Terrell opinion and to the extent that that ruling may be applicable.” Bozeman, 787 So.2d at 369. The [963]*963plaintiff applied for a rehearing, but rehearing was denied. The plaintiff did not seek review of the ruling on special damages before the supreme court.

14Retrial of the special damages for medical expenses occurred on February 18, 2002. Plaintiff introduced a summary spreadsheet of medical expenses compiled from the original 1996 Medicaid printout (J — 1 at trial), an updated 2001 printout of Medicaid claims, and original invoices which were introduced into evidence at trial. DOTD introduced the 2001 printout. No testimony was entered by either party. The trial court rendered judgment on March 28, 2002, awarding medical expenses of $344,999.59. Written reasons for judgment were provided on May 14, 2002, in response to a motion by the plaintiff. The trial court explained its decision as follows:

The ruling of this court on March 28, 2002 involved a determination by this court as to what medical expenses should be awarded in favor of plaintiff. The Second Circuit Court of Appeal remanded this case for that purpose and directed a consideration of the Terrell criteria in making that calculation. Both parties submitted their calculations and as can readily be seen by the record, this court accepted the calculations and argument made by the defendant, which are adopted as though fully set forth herein.

Thereafter, the trial court denied the plaintiffs motion for a new trial, and this appeal followed.2

BOZEMAN APPEAL

The plaintiff asserts five assignments of error on appeal. The first and second assignments of error, which will be addressed together, pertain to whether the trial court erred in applying the Terrell holding to the award of medical expenses and whether DOTD met its burden of proof. The third and fourth assignments of error, which will be addressed together, pertain to whether the trial court erred in allowing evidence to be presented by DOTD | .¡concerning a defense not asserted at trial and in failing to find that plaintiff was prejudiced by the change in legal theory by DOTD after oral argument and on remand. The fifth assignment of error is whether the trial court erred in fixing the amount of medical expenses at $344,999.59.

We will address the third and fourth assignments of error first as these deal with whether the trial court should have gotten to a consideration of Terrell, supra, in assessing special damages. Thereafter, we will address the first and second assignments of error, which pertain to the application of Terrell, supra, to this matter. Lastly, we will address the fifth assignment of error pertaining to the calculation of damages.

Third and Fourth Assignments of Error:

The plaintiffs third assignment of error pertains to this court’s ruling in Bozeman, supra, that the

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Related

Bozeman v. State
879 So. 2d 692 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
839 So. 2d 960, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 524, 2003 WL 730685, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bozeman-v-state-department-of-transportation-development-lactapp-2003.