Lehigh Valley Hosp. v. Dietrich (In re Dietrich)

595 B.R. 59
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 13, 2018
DocketCase No. 17-13378REF; Adv. No. 17-259
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 595 B.R. 59 (Lehigh Valley Hosp. v. Dietrich (In re Dietrich)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lehigh Valley Hosp. v. Dietrich (In re Dietrich), 595 B.R. 59 (Pa. 2018).

Opinion

RICHARD E. FEHLING, United States Bankruptcy Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Debtor/Defendant, Richard Gilbert Dietrich ("Dietrich") needed brain surgery. The medical facility that he chose for his procedure was Plaintiff, Lehigh Valley Hospital (the "Hospital"). His health insurance carrier, however, identified the Hospital as non-participating. This meant that his health insurance carrier would not pay the Hospital directly; it would pay Dietrich the amount of the Hospital bills. Dietrich was then personally responsible to pay the insurance proceeds to the Hospital. Dietrich signed consent forms that establish his liability for services that the Hospital provided to him and through which he assigned all of his interest in insurance benefits to the Hospital. Dietrich, however, says that he neither read nor understood the consents and therefore was not bound by their terms. When he received three checks totaling $95,674.36 from his health insurance carrier for his brain surgery, he kept them, deposited them into his own account, and spent them, failing to pay the insurance proceeds to the Hospital.

In this case, I am called upon to determine whether the $95,674.36 debt admittedly owed by Dietrich to the Hospital should not be dischargeable. I find and conclude that Dietrich's conduct amounted to fraudulent misrepresentation and willful and malicious conduct. The debt owed to the Hospital by Dietrich is therefore nondischargeable under both section 523(a)(2)(A) and section 523(a)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code. I will rule in favor of *63the Hospital, concluding that the full amount of the debt is not dischargeable.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Dietrich received treatment for a brain tumor at the Hospital in the first half of 2016. On January 15, 2016, the Hospital contacted Dietrich and notified him that the Hospital was a non-participating provider with Dietrich's insurance company, Capital BlueCross. That meant that Capitol BlueCross would not pay the Hospital's fees directly, but would pay Dietrich who would then pay the Hospital. But Dietrich claims to be unaware how the anticipated payment to the Hospital would be made by Capital BlueCross. He failed to question both the Hospital and Capital BlueCross about what effect the Hospital's status as a non-participating provider would have on his ability and obligation to pay the Hospital for medical services. Dietrich also decided not to read his insurance policy to determine how payment would be made to a non-participating provider such as the Hospital. Dietrich acknowledged, however, that had he read his policy, he would have learned that Capital BlueCross would remit payment for medical services directly to him and not to the Hospital as a non-participating provider. Prior to receiving treatment from the Hospital, Dietrich executed three Consents for Treatment, in which he agreed to pay for services rendered to him by the Hospital. More directly on point in this dispute, Dietrich assigned to the Hospital any insurance proceeds he would receive as payment for the services provided by the Hospital.

After receiving medical services from the Hospital, Dietrich received bills from the Hospital for these medical services. He also received three checks totaling $95,674.36 from Capital BlueCross as payment for the services he received from the Hospital. Dietrich does not dispute that he endorsed these checks, deposited the proceeds into his personal bank account, and spent the money. When he endorsed the checks, deposited the proceeds into his personal account, and spent the funds, Dietrich was aware that the Hospital was a non-participating provider with Capital BlueCross.

The Hospital initiated this litigation, maintaining that Dietrich's conduct was fraudulent and willful and malicious and that the debt he owes to the Hospital should not be dischargeable under section 523(a)(2)(A) and (6). Dietrich's sole defense is that he was not aware that the checks he received from Capital BlueCross were intended as payment for the services provided by the Hospital. He further claims that the Hospital failed to prove that his conduct was fraudulent, willful, and malicious. Fundamentally, this case hangs upon Dietrich having no reasonable belief that the $95,674.36 he received was his to keep and spend.

III. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Hospital initiated this adversary proceeding by filing and serving its complaint against Dietrich on August 24, 2017 claiming that the $95,674.36 debt owed to it by Dietrich is not dischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) and (6). Dietrich filed his answer to the complaint on September 19, 2017. On April 20, 2018, the Hospital filed a motion for summary judgment, which I denied in my Order entered on May 16, 2018, because some critical facts were in dispute. Trial was thereafter held on August 13, 2018 and the parties filed post-trial briefs. This matter is now ready for my disposition. As noted above, I will rule in favor of the Hospital, concluding that the full amount of the debt of $95,674.36 is not dischargeable.

*64IV. DISCUSSION

A. Dietrich is bound by the terms of the Consents for Treatment he signed and therefore is obliged to pay the Hospital for the services he received and to have remitted the proceeds of the insurance to the Hospital.

Prior to receiving treatment from the Hospital, Dietrich signed three identical Consents for Treatment. The Consents obligate Dietrich to pay the Hospital for the services it renders to Dietrich. They also require that Dietrich assign to the Hospital all insurance benefits he receives for services rendered by the Hospital to Dietrich. See the Hospital's Exhibits A, B, & C. Dietrich does not dispute that he signed these documents, but he suggests he is not bound by their terms because he neither read nor understood their contents. That is just plain wrong.

Pennsylvania law, as applied both in state courts and in federal courts, is crystal clear that neither the failure to read a document nor the lack of understanding of its terms is a defense to the enforceability of the document. Schillachi v. Flying Dutchman Motorcycle Club, 751 F.Supp. 1169, 1174-75 (E.D. Pa. 1990) ; see also Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Yung, 317 F.Supp.3d 879, 887 (E.D. Pa. 2018). As the District Court stated in Yung:

Under Pennsylvania law, a party who signs a contract is responsible for reading the contract. See Schillachi v. Flying Dutchman Motorcycle Club, 751 F.Supp. 1169, 1174-75 (E.D. Pa. 1990) (citing Bessen Bros., Inc. v. Brooks, 176 Pa. Super. 430

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
595 B.R. 59, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lehigh-valley-hosp-v-dietrich-in-re-dietrich-paeb-2018.