Olsen v. Reid

164 Cal. App. 4th 200, 79 Cal. Rptr. 3d 255, 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 945

• Court: California Court of Appeal
• Decided: June 23, 2008
• Docket: G038478
• Status: Published

Opinions

Opinion

MOORE, Acting P. J .

Plaintiff Margaret Olsen appeals a posttrial order reducing the amount of the jury’s verdict in this personal injury case. She argues the trial court improperly reduced the amount of the medical expenses awarded by the jury. We agree and therefore reverse the judgment, and direct the court to reinstate the full amount of the jury’s verdict.

Defendant Lynn R. Reid cross-appeals, arguing the trial court improperly allowed the jury to hear evidence as to the full amount of plaintiff’s medical expenses. We disagree and affirm the court’s order.

I

FACTS

In August 2003, plaintiff Margaret Olsen was injured when defendant Lynn Reid struck her from behind with a motorized wheelchair. Olsen suffered considerable injuries as a result and, in 2005, she filed a lawsuit against Reid for negligence. Reid stipulated to liability prior to trial.

Before trial, Olsen moved to admit evidence to the jury of the full amount her medical providers billed her for treatment. The court granted this motion. Reid, on the other hand, moved to admit evidence of the amount Olsen actually paid for her treatment. The motion, in its factual background, stated: “Various insurance carriers have paid various amounts to plaintiff’s various medical providers and those providers have written off the remaining balance. The exact amount ... of medical expenses paid will be verified when the subpoenaed documents arrive in court.” The court denied this motion, stating that any reduction in the amount of medical expenses would be handled after the trial.

The record includes evidence that Olsen was actually billed $62,475.81 for medical care. The jury awarded that amount for “past economic loss, including medical expenses,” in a total verdict of $250,000.

After the trial, Reid filed a motion to reduce the jury’s verdict, relying on the authority of Hanif v. Housing Authority (1988) 200 Cal.App.3d 635 [246 Cal.Rptr. 192] (Hanif) and Nishihama v. City and County of San Francisco (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 298 [112 Cal.Rptr.2d 861] (Nishihama). Reid claimed she was entitled to a reduction in the verdict of $57,394.24 because Olsen’s providers had “written off’ that portion of her bills. In support of the motion, Reid submitted a 22-page bill from Anaheim Memorial Medical Center (AMMC). Page 20 of that bill includes the following line item: “ADJ— MHIPA CAP ADJ” and in the amount column, “46,270.05-.” The next line item reads: “ADJ—MHIPA CAP W/O” and “8,024.15-.” The “Total payments & adjustments” is listed as “55,094.20-.” The page also includes handwritten notes from an unclear source.

During oral argument on the motion, the court stated that it believed “[t]he write-offs, to this court’s way of thinking, are clear.” As far as the record reflects, no further evidence was submitted regarding what amounts were actually paid or by whom. The court, however, granted Reid’s motion as a partial judgment notwithstanding the verdict and reduced the judgment by $57,394.24.

Both parties now appeal. Olsen argues the court improperly reduced the judgment by $57,394.24. Reid argues the court should have granted its motion in limine, precluding the jury from hearing evidence as to the actual amounts billed by Olsen’s providers.

II

DISCUSSION

Olsen’s Appeal

Olsen and amicus curiae ask this court to reconsider the holdings in cases such as Hanif, supra, 200 Cal.App.3d 635 and Nishihama, supra, 93 Cal.App.4th 298. Those cases held that when a plaintiff has medical insurance, damages are limited to the amount actually paid or incurred, not to any greater amount a medical provider billed, even if that amount was reasonable. (Hanif supra, 200 Cal.App.3d at p. 640; Nishihama, supra, 93 Cal.App.4th at p. 306.) We need not go that far, however, in order to decide this case.

Despite Reid’s arguments to the contrary, we find it far from clear as to what was paid, what, if anything, was “written off,” and to what extent Olsen remained liable for any further charges. The cryptic notations the court relied upon may reflect payments, or write-downs or write-offs; we cannot know, and if any evidence revealed the actual facts, they are not present in the record.¹ Reid claimed she was prepared to demonstrate the amounts Olsen and her insurer actually paid at the time of her motion in Hmine, yet with this evidence, we cannot find she did so, even under the most permissive standard of review.²

We therefore find the trial court erred in reducing the amount of the jury verdict. We reverse this order and direct the trial court to enter a new judgment reflecting the full amount of the jury’s verdict.

Reid’s Cross-appeal

Reid cross-appeals, arguing it was error for the trial court to permit the jury to hear evidence of the full measure of Olsen’s medical damages. We squarely reject this argument. Even the cases holding that a plaintiff is entitled to the lesser amount of damages—those incurred rather than billed (and we do not decide that Reid was entitled to such a hearing)—have approved of the jury’s hearing evidence as to the full amount of plaintiff’s damages. “There is no reason to assume that the usual rates provided a less accurate indicator of the extent of plaintiff’s injuries than did the specially negotiated rates obtained by Blue Cross. Indeed, the opposite is more likely to be true.” (Nishihama, supra, 93 Cal.App.4th at p. 309; see also Greer v. Buzgheia (2006) 141 Cal.App.4th 1150, 1157 [46 Cal.Rptr.3d 780].) We therefore find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denial of the motion.

m

DISPOSITION

The judgment is reversed and the trial court is directed to enter a new judgment reflecting the full amount of the jury verdict. Olsen is entitled to her costs on appeal.

Aronson, J., and Fybel, J., concurred.

1 We entirely discount the handwritten notes on the bill. Their provenance is unknown. The notes, therefore, are without foundation and simply have no evidentiary value.

2 The question of what form a motion to reduce the judgment under the purported Hanif/Nishihama rule should take is unclear, but need not be decided here. Whether we review the court’s decision for substantial evidence or abuse of discretion, the evidence here is insufficient to support the court’s ruling.