Court Opinion

ID: 9656719
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 19:57:11.978784+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:34.836176
License: Public Domain

PAGE, Justice
(concurring).
I concur in the analysis and conclusion reached by the court. I write separately simply to clarify that in this opinion, when we refer to a “covered claim,” we are *153talking about a claim within the meaning of the Guaranty Act, chapter 60C of the Minnesota Statutes, as distinguished from an employee’s claim for injuries covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act, chapter 176. Also, as Seehus remarked in his brief to the WCCA, he found himself caught “in the middle.” There was no dispute that his medical care was reasonably required and causally related to a compensable injury. The sole dispute focused on which party should pay. Yet neither MIGA nor CNA sought a temporary order under Minn.Stat. § 176.191, subd. 1 (2008), which directs payment of benefits pending a determination of liability. “When liability has been determined, the party held liable for the benefits shall be ordered to reimburse any other party for payments which the latter has made, including interest at the rate of 12 percent a year.” Id. The purpose of this provision is to “supplement the statutory duty of an employer factually and legally liable for benefits to commence payment ... and to ensure that an employee clearly entitled to benefits should not suffer a delay in payment because of a dispute as to liability for payment between two or more employers.” Lease v. Pemtom, Inc., 305 Minn. 6, 13-14, 232 N.W.2d 424, 428-29 (1975). It seems to me that employees like Seehus “should not suffer a delay in payment” just because their claims are being administrated by MIGA.