Healthsouth Rehabilitation Hospital of New Mexico, Ltd. v. Brawley

2016 NMCA 037, 9 N.M. 588
New Mexico Court of Appeals·Decided December 16, 2015·No. S-1-SC-35690; Docket 33,593·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

OPINION

BUSTAMANTE, Judge.

{1} Third-Party Plaintiff Terry A. Brawley was severely injured in an accident while riding his all-terrain vehicle. He sought coverage under a health plan provided by his wife’s employer, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech). NM Tech denied Brawley’s claims on the ground that Brawley’s injuries were sustained while Brawley was under the influence of alcohol and hence his injuries were excluded from coverage under the terms of the health plan. After a bench trial, the district court found that NM Tech had breached its statutory duty to properly investigate the claims, but also found that Brawley’s injuries were not covered by the health plan because Brawley was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident and that the influence of alcohol was “a cause” of the accident. Brawley appeals, arguing that the district court and NM Tech erred in relying on a certain blood alcohol content report and that his claims should be covered under the “concurrent cause” or “independent intervening cause” doctrines. We conclude that Brawley’s evidentiary arguments do not present reversible error and that Brawley failed to preserve his arguments as to causation. We therefore affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2} On the evening of August 1, 2009, Brawley was drinking in the Mountain View Bar in Lemitar, New Mexico. One of the last to leave, Brawley told the bartender, “my ride is here” as he left the bar. This statement was consistent with Brawley’s testimony, corroborated by other witnesses, that he customarily had friends or colleagues drive him home after he had been drinking. Later that night, Brawley was found unconscious near his all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on an unlighted road between the bar and his home. Brawley apparently had been thrown off the ATV when he encountered a “wash[]out” in the road measuring fifteen feet wide and five feet deep. He suffered extensive injuries, and after being treated for several hours at Socorro General Hospital, was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In total, Brawley was treated at four different hospitals over a period of approximately fourteen weeks. He incurred over $500,000 in charges for this care.

{3} Brawley was provided medical benefits through his wife’s employer, Defendant NM Tech. The self-funded Health Benefit Plan (the Plan) was administered for NM Tech by a third-party, HCH Administration (HCH), although NM Tech retained the right of final determination as to any claim made under the Plan and had the power to accept or reject HCH’s recommendations. The Plan was subject to the provisions of the New Mexico Insurance Code, NMSA 1978, §§ 59A-1-1 to -61-6 (1978, as amended through 2014). The Plan provides that

no benefits are payable under [the] Plan for expenses incurred or in connection with . . . injury or sickness sustained . . . while under the influence of alcohol . . . [provided that] there is a direct relationship between [being under the influence of alcohol] and the sickness or injuries sustained.

This provision also states that “[f]or purposes of this section, a person shall be presumed to be under the influence of alcohol if his blood alcohol level equals or exceeds the limit for driving under the influence of alcohol as determined by the law of the state in which the [i]njury occurred.”

{4} Based on this exclusion, called the “alcohol exclusion” by the parties, HCH denied the Brawleys’ claims related to the accident. In its decision to deny the claims, HCH relied on “the police report and preliminary medical records only.” Neither HCH nor NM Tech contacted Brawley or his wife (collectively, the Brawleys) or the investigating police officer or emergency medical personnel at the accident scene prior to denying the claims. No one from HCH or NM Tech went to the accident scene to investigate the accident. Finally, HCH and NM Tech did not interview the Mountain View Bar bartender or patrons of the bar, analyze the circumstances of the blood test upon which they relied to assure its reliability, talk with Brawley’s medical care providers, or follow up on the issuance and later dismissal of the DWI citation issued to Brawley after the accident. The district court found that these steps would have constituted a reasonable inquiry under the circumstances.

{5} The present matter was initiated when HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of New Mexico, Ltd., d/b/a HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital (HealthSouth), sued the Brawleys to recover the amount of their bills unpaid by NM Tech. The Brawleys filed an answer and third-party complaint naming HealthSouth and NM Tech as third-party defendants. The complaint alleged breach of contract, bad faith, violation of the Insurance Code, and violation of the Unfair Practices Act, NMSA 1978, §§ 57-12-1 to -26 (1967, as amended through 2009). The Brawleys also sought a declaratory judgment establishing that their claims are covered under the Plan.

{6} HealthSouth was dismissed from suit based on a settlement agreement and the matter proceeded to a bench trial against NM Tech. At trial, the Brawleys tendered testimony by an accident reconstructionist who opined that the washout was the sole cause of the accident and an insurance expert who testified that NM Tech failed to properly investigate the accident and, more specifically, whether Brawley’s alleged intoxication had a “direct relationship” to the accident. NM Tech presented testimony by its own insurance expert who testified that HCH and NM Tech properly denied the claims based on a medical report showing Brawleys’ blood alcohol level and that no further investigation was required. The parties stipulated that the amount remaining unpaid was $308,391.89.

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Healthsouth Rehabilitation Hospital of New Mexico, Ltd. v. Brawley, 2016 NMCA 037, 9 N.M. 588 (N.M. Ct. App. 2015).

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