Opinion ID: 2584655
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Adamson v. Bicknell

Text: Most recently, the Court of Appeals considered the collateral source rule and write-offs in Adamson v. Bicknell, 41 Kan.App.2d 958, 207 P.3d 265 (2009), rev. granted March 31, 2010. There, the panel noted that pursuant to Bates, evidence of medical expenses written off pursuant to Medicaid requirements must be excluded from evidence. Adamson, 41 Kan.App.2d at 970, 207 P.3d 265. Accordingly, the panel reversed the trial court and allowed the introduction of these write-offs at retrial because they were within the scope of the collateral source rule. Adamson, 41 Kan.App.2d at 973, 207 P.3d 265. Recent Kansas case law, i.e., from Bates to date, is therefore synthesized chronologically as follows: 1. Medicaid write-offs are not covered by the collateral source rule per Bates; 2. Medicare write-offs are covered by the collateral source rule per Rose I; 3. Private insurance write-offs are not covered by the collateral source rule per Fischer; 4. Medicare write-offs are not covered by the collateral source rule per Liberty (contrary to Rose I ); and 5. Whether Medicare write-offs are covered by the collateral source rule is intentionally left unaddressed by the Supreme Court per Rose II. Related case law from the Court of Appeals is further synthesized as follows: Because write-offs by health care providers are not a collateral source benefit within the ambit of the collateral source rule, the issue regarding these write-offs instead becomes their possible relevance to the reasonable value of medical care and expenses for the treatment of the victim's injuries. Liberty, slip op. at 13. And the amount which a health care provider has agreed to accept in full satisfaction for services rendered in treatment of the plaintiff's injuries conclusively establishes the reasonable measure of those medical care and expenses. Fischer, slip op. at 13; Liberty, slip op. at 14. As a result, the plaintiff cannot introduce evidence of the amount of the nonrecourse discounts, i.e., write-offs, as part of the plaintiff's economic damages. Fischer, slip op. at 13.