Opinion ID: 2584655
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 24

Heading: Points of agreement with our colleagues

Text: At this juncture, we think it is important to reflect on our points of agreement with our three colleagues before discussing in greater detail our disagreements. We believe our common ground can best be described as follows: (1) Plaintiff is entitled to the reasonable value of the medical services necessary for plaintiff's recovery; (2) Plaintiff is entitled to seek recovery for the reasonable value of medical services even when they are self-administered or gratuitously provided; (3) Defendant is entitled to challenge both the necessity and reasonable value of the expenses plaintiff claims; (4) Amounts billed by health care providers for plaintiff's medical treatment expenses are not conclusive as to their reasonable value, but are probative evidence as to value; and (5) The results reached in Bates, Fischer, and Liberty are wrong when those Court of Appeals panels held as a matter of law that the amount paid by Medicare, Medicaid, or private health insurers are the only measure of reasonable value for the medical care and treatment plaintiff received. Our point of departure is the evidence our colleagues would authorize a defendant to use at trial in an effort to attack the reasonableness of plaintiff's claims for medical services. We discuss that departure next.