In Re Cha Hawaii, LLC

426 B.R. 828, 63 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1548, 71 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 206, 2010 Bankr. LEXIS 680, 52 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 242, 2010 WL 797285
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Hawaii
DecidedMarch 4, 2010
Docket19-00152
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 426 B.R. 828 (In Re Cha Hawaii, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Hawaii primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Cha Hawaii, LLC, 426 B.R. 828, 63 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1548, 71 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 206, 2010 Bankr. LEXIS 680, 52 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 242, 2010 WL 797285 (Haw. 2010).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON MOTION FOR ADEQUATE PROTECTION 1

ROBERT J. FARIS, Bankruptcy Judge.

The debtors have admittedly used millions of dollars of cash collateral in which St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii and its affiliates (“SFHS”) have an interest, without obtaining the consent of SFHS or a court order authorizing the use of SFHS’ cash collateral. The only questions are (1) exactly how much cash collateral the debtors used without authority and (2) what remedy should be imposed.

1.

The dispute concerns funds that passed through an account at First Hawaiian Bank. After the petition date and until the debtors froze the account, $9,002,728 flowed into and out of the account. Of this amount, the debtors agree that $2,697,719 was SFHS’ cash collateral. The disputed balance is $6,305,009.

2.

Under its security agreement (docket no. 887-3), SFHS’ security interest attached to “all personal property and other assets, excluding Accounts and the identifiable proceeds of Accounts ..., including ... [a]ll ‘Contracts’ ..., [ajll Deposit Accounts ..., [a]ll ‘General Intangibles’ ..., [and] [a]ll ‘Proceeds’.... ”

The security agreement provides that “Accounts” means “accounts” as defined in Hawaii’s Uniform Commercial Code. Under Haw.Rev.Stat. § 490:9-102(a), “accounts”

Means a right to payment of a monetary obligation, whether or not earned by performance:
*833 (A) For property that has been or is to be sold, leased, licensed, assigned, or otherwise disposed of [or];
(B) For services rendered or to be rendered. ...
The term includes health-care-insurance receivables.

The debtors and the committee argue that most of the disputed balance ($5,457,-492) is the proceeds of “Accounts” in which SFHS has no interest. SFHS claims that most of this sum (specifically, the DSH and Medicaid rate reimbursement payments, the HMSA quality award payments, the payments for drug protocols and clinical trials, and drug rebates) are not proceeds of Accounts and rather are part of SFHS’ collateral.

a.

SFHS points out that, in their monthly operating reports and other filed documents, the debtors stated (in summary) that the deposits in the FHB account were not the proceeds of accounts receivable. SFHS argues that the doctrine of judicial estoppel precludes the debtors from denying that all of the money that passed through the FHB account was SFHS’ cash collateral. I do not accept this argument. There is no evidence that, when the debtors labeled their disbursements in the filed documents, they intended to give the labels the same technical meaning ascribed to those words in the loan documents. Further, judicial estop-pel should not be employed where innocent parties, such as the unsecured creditors in this case, would be harmed. Cheng v. K & S Diversified Invs., Inc. (In re Cheng), 308 B.R. 448, 459 (9th Cir. BAP 2004).

SFHS argues that, by consistently depositing certain types of receipts in the FHB account, SFHS admitted that those receipts are SFHS’ collateral. The definition of “Accounts” in the security agreement, which incorporates the UCC’s statutory definition of “accounts,” is not ambiguous. Parol evidence, such as evidence based on conduct, is not admissible to vary the terms of the agreement. Thomas v. Pankow Holdings, Inc., 2000 Haw. LEXIS 194, 21, 2000 WL 1028194 (Haw. June 19, 2000).

b.

The security agreement’s collateral description is confusing at first glance. It seems odd to say that the collateral consists of everything, except for one category of things, and including many other categories of things. What happens when a particular item arguably belongs both in the excluded category and in one or more of the included categories?

The confusion disappears when one remembers that a so-called “supergeneric” description of collateral is legally insufficient. Haw.Rev.Stat. § 490:9-108(c). In other words, if the security agreement simply said “all of the debtors’ personal property except Accounts,” the security agreement would have been ineffective. The security agreement lists the categories of included assets to make the agreement valid, not to limit the scope of the excluded category of assets (“Accounts” and their proceeds).

Therefore, it is only necessary to determine whether the disputed items are “Accounts.” If an item is not an Account, it is part of SFHS’ collateral (because SFHS’ collateral consists of all of the debtors’ personal property other than Accounts). It is not necessary to determine whether a particular item is a “Contract,” or a “General Intangible,” or one of the other includ *834 ed categories. 2

c.

The largest item in dispute is labeled “DSH/Medicaid rate reconsideration” ($3,447,948). DSH, an acronym for “disproportionate share hospital,” is a program under which the government makes payments, in addition to the other amounts payable under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, to certain qualifying hospitals serving a disproportionate share of low-income patients. The purpose of the DSH program is to supplement the other payments for services rendered.

Federal reimbursement of hospitals’ operating costs under Medicare occurs under the Prospective Payment System (PPS). This system bases reimbursement on a predetermined amount that an efficiently run hospital should incur for inpatient services. In 1983, Congress found that providing services to low-income patients may cost medical centers more than is provided for by this scheme and, accordingly, Congress directed the Secretary to make additional payments to hospitals that serve a significantly disproportionate number of low income patients.

Portland Adventist Medical Center v. Thompson, 399 F.3d 1091, 1093-94 (9th Cir.2005) (emphasis added, internal citations and quote marks omitted). “Congress’ ‘overarching intent’ in passing the disproportionate share provision was to supplement the prospective payment system payments of hospitals serving ‘low income’ persons.” Legacy Emanuel Hosp. & Health Ctr. v. Shalala, 97 F.3d 1261, 1265 (9th Cir.1996) (emphasis added). The “overarching intent of Congress” is to “provide and supplement the resources available to PPS hospitals.... ” Jewish Hosp. v. Secretary of Health & Human Servs., 19 F.3d 270, 275 (6th Cir.1994).

SFHS does not dispute that Medicare and Medicaid payments are the proceeds of “Accounts” and are not SFHS’ cash collateral.

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Bluebook (online)
426 B.R. 828, 63 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 1548, 71 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 206, 2010 Bankr. LEXIS 680, 52 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 242, 2010 WL 797285, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cha-hawaii-llc-hib-2010.