Court Opinion

ID: 9520969
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:54:14.058665+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:47:25.040483
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE HOLDRIDGE, dissenting: I respectfully dissent. In order to recover medical or hospital expenses, a plaintiff must prove that he or she has paid or became liable to pay the amount claimed. Baretto v. City of Waukegan, 133 Ill. App. 3d 119, 130 (1985), citing Wicks v. Cuneo-Henneberry Co., 319 Ill. 344, 349 (1925). Medical services obtained without expense, obligation or liability to a plaintiff are not recoverable against a defendant in a personal injury action. Peterson v. Lou Bachrodt Chevrolet Co., 76 Ill. 2d 353, 363 (1979). Here, it is undisputed that the plaintiff never paid or became liable for the $5,777.28 she seeks from the defendant. In view of the fact that the plaintiff was never liable for the amount “discounted” by the hospital, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the collateral source rule nonetheless entitles her to recover the $5,777.28 that was never a cost incurred as a result of defendant’s negligence. “Under the collateral source rule, benefits received by the injured party from a source wholly independent of, and collateral to, the tortfeasor will not diminish damages otherwise recoverable from the tortfeasor.” (Emphasis added.) Wilson v. Hoffman Group, Inc., 131 Ill. 2d 308, 320 (1989). The purpose of the collateral source rule is to preclude the jury from considering the payment of medical bills by insurance or collateral income when it decides the plaintiffs damages. Boden v. Crawford, 196 Ill. App. 3d 71 (1990). Here, the amount received from the plaintiffs insurance company in full payment of plaintiffs past medical expenses — $13,577.97—will be fully protected by the collateral source rule. The additional $5,777.28 needs no such protection, as the plaintiff never incurred or became obligated for that expense. The majority maintains that the plaintiff is entitled to the $5,777.28 over and above her actually incurred medical expenses as this represents the benefit of her bargain with her insurance company. Had the plaintiff, or more accurately, her husband’s employer, actually contracted for payment of all charges at the maximum rate chargeable by a health-care provider, I would agree that plaintiff is entitled to the disputed amount, as that would have been the amount she received from the collateral source. However, the benefit of the bargain in the plaintiffs group health insurance policy was that the insurer would pay her reasonable medical expenses, whatever that amount turned out to be. The fact that her insurance company was able to negotiate with the medical providers to reduce the amount it would have to pay to satisfy its obligation to the plaintiff was the benefit flowing to the insurance company from its contract with the providers. In other words, the plaintiff got the benefit of her contract when the insurance company paid her medical bills leaving her no liability. I see no legal reason to allow the plaintiff to recover for expenses she never paid nor ever became obligated to pay as a result of the negligence of the defendant. I therefore respectfully dissent.