Drumm v. Blue Cross

320 N.E.2d 713, 40 Ohio App. 2d 421, 69 Ohio Op. 2d 373, 1974 Ohio App. LEXIS 2653
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 17, 1974
Docket32437
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 320 N.E.2d 713 (Drumm v. Blue Cross) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Drumm v. Blue Cross, 320 N.E.2d 713, 40 Ohio App. 2d 421, 69 Ohio Op. 2d 373, 1974 Ohio App. LEXIS 2653 (Ohio Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

Jackson, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Common Pleas Court of Cuyahoga County, in favor of plaintiff for $12,500. Suit was brought by appellee as plain *422 tiff below based on a contract between the United States Civil Service Commission and the Blue Cross Association and National Association of Blue Shield Plans. The Blue Cross Association and National Association of Blue Shield Plans executed the contract which provides certain benefits for Federal employees enrolled in the Plan. Defendant Health Care Mutual Association is the underwriter of the “Supplemental Benefits” portion of this plan. Plaintiff was enrolled in the Plan and his daughter, Patricia, was covered by its provisions when the activities giving rise to this suit arose.

Appellee, in his complaint, claimed that $36,000 was due him under the “Supplemental Benefits” clause of the policy. This sum represented the expenses which would have resulted if plaintiff’s daughter, Patricia, had spent three years in Devereux Foundation of Devon, Pennsylvania, a nonprofit institution suited to the treatment of nervous and mental disorders in children. The record discloses that Patricia actually spent twelve months at this institution.

Appellants, Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio and Health Care Mutual Association, both filed answers denying liability under any contract or insurance policy. Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio additionally denied that it had any contract with the plaintiff, and accordingly, prayed that it be dismissed. Upon trial before the court, verdict and judgment was entered in favor of appellee against both defendants in the amount of $12,000, the cost of one year’s enrollment at Devereux Foundation at $1,000 per month. Motion for New Trial was overruled. Defendants’ motion for separate findings of fact and conclusions of law was granted. Defendants and plaintiff both filed proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, but the record fails to disclose that any such findings and conclusions have been journalized by the trial court. Defendant Health Care Mutual Association appeals, assigning six errors:

1. The court erred in ignoring the specific requirement set forth in the brochures that, to obtain benefits, the subscriber must submit itemized bills from the suppliers of *423 services and in finding that a blanket all-inclusiye charge of $1,000.00 per month with no itemization of services constituted an “itemized bill”.

2. The court erred in finding Devereux to be a hospital as defined in the contract.

3. The court erred in disregarding the contractual limitations on benefits provided and the exclusions.

4. The judgment is excessive.

5. The court erred in admitting the testimony of Dr. Rubin over objection by defendants and in not strieking such testimony on motion of defendants.

6. The judgment is not sustained by the evidence and is contrary to law.

Defendant Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio also appeals, joining in the errors assigned by Health Care Mutual Association and also assigning an additional error which is disposed of below following the discussion of the six mutual assignments of error.

L

Assignments of error numbers 1, 2 and 3 all involve the question of whether the trial court correctly interpreted and applied various coverage provisions of appellee’s insurance policy. Because the various coverage provisions of this policy are interdependent these assignments will be disposed of together.

The parties have stipulated that Plaintiff’s Exhibits D, E and F indicate the benefits available under the insurance policy and the procedure for obtaining these benefits (Tr. 20). These three exhibits are practically identical brochures issued in compliance with Federal law. The brochures set forth, in summary form, the services and benefits available to employees and their family members covered by the Plan. 1

The Plan offers Basic and Supplemental Benefits. Basic Benefits are not provided for services rendered in nonmember hospitals which are primarily a place for the treat *424 inent of nervous or mental disorders, but Supplemental Benefits are provided for covered services received in such institutions. 2 Devereux is not a “member hospital” under the Plan because it does not have the required agreement with Blue Cross. 3 Therefore, if the charges incurred by plaintiff for the treatment of his daughter’s emotional problems at Devereux are covered at all under the Plan, these charges must be covered under the Supplemental Benefits rather than the Basic Benefits portion of the Plan.

Supplemental Benefits cover the “... usual, customary and reasonable charges for medically necessary covered services and supplies in or out of a hospital prescribed or ordered by a physician. .. .” 4 Those particular services and supplies which are “covered” are listed in the Plan, 5 as are specific exclusions. 6

The trial court awarded the plaintiff $12,000, the full charge for Patricia’s one-year stay at Devereux, even though Devereux provided Patricia with a full year of college preparatory education for which she received credit in English, History, Biology, Geometry, Spanish and Physical Education. The expense for this education is not listed as a covered service under the Supplemental Benefits portion of the Plan. In fact, educational therapy is specifically excluded from coverage. 7

Some of the services provided Patricia at Devereux are, arguably, covered by the Plan. A clause of particular importance reads:

For nervous and mental disorders — In addition to other services and supplies covered by Basic or Supplemental Benefits, the following are covered under Supplemental Benefits when performed at the direction and under the supervision of the attending physician:

® Day-night hospital care

*425 ® Group therapy

• Collateral visits with members of the patient’s immediate family

• Services of a member of a “mental health team” (i. e. physician, psychologist, psychiatric nurse, psychiatric social worker). 8

Patricia was provided with group therapy and the services of a member of a “mental health team” once per week while she stayed at Devereux.

The Plan provides a solution for the problem presented when an institution such as Devereux provides an insured with some services which are covered and some which are not. The section of the Plan titled “How to Obtain Benefits — Claims for Supplemental Benefits” clearly states “Itemized bills are necessary.” 9

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
320 N.E.2d 713, 40 Ohio App. 2d 421, 69 Ohio Op. 2d 373, 1974 Ohio App. LEXIS 2653, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/drumm-v-blue-cross-ohioctapp-1974.