Opinion ID: 796138
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Computation of the Award

Text: 27 Jauch contends that the district court erred in awarding him only a portion ($61,828.84) of the total amount ($85,165.12) 17 of medical expenses that he incurred as a result of the accident. In its order, the district court did not explain how it calculated Jauch's medical expenses. It appears to have adopted the figure proposed by Nautical in its post-trial memorandum, but it did so without expressly crediting Nautical's justifications for disallowing a portion of the amount Jauch sought. Had Nautical presented a more thorough accounting of Jauch's medical expenses, we would be justified in attributing that calculus to the district court, just as we would have done had Jauch been awarded the full amount that he sought without comment by the district court. 28 Nautical's post-trial memorandum, however, is insufficient for this purpose. In it, Nautical mentions two of Jauch's bills that it assumes were paid by Nautical, but focuses primarily on the expenses related to Jauch's back surgery. Nautical argues that Jauch should only recover the amount that Medicare actually paid for the surgery because it found no evidence that the surgeon had attempted to collect the balance of the bill from Jauch. After calculating the difference between the two amounts, Nautical simply asserts that the true measure of plaintiff's total medical bills would be $61,828.84. Even though Nautical's proffered rationale may provide an appropriate basis for calculating an award of medical expenses, in this case, the numbers simply do not add up. Merely subtracting (1) the difference in the amount Medicare paid for Jauch's surgery and the amount the surgeon charged, and (2) the two bills allegedly paid by Nautical from the total amount of medical expenses Jauch sought, does not produce the figure proposed by Nautical and awarded by the district court. Whether the Medicare-payment rationale was applied to other bills as well, or some other amounts were disallowed, is simply unclear from the record. Thus, a review of this award for error is not possible. A further round of briefing and a more detailed finding by the district court should resolve this matter easily enough.