Court Opinion

ID: 9672619
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:58:02.544561+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:17.495925
License: Public Domain

McCormack, J.,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. It is obvious from the legislative history that the Legislature was responding to complaints from the hospitals who were unhappy with this court’s decision 1 year before in In re Guardianship & Conservatorship of Bloomquist, 246 *886Neb. 711, 523 N.W.2d 352 (1994), wherein we ruled that the hospital must pay its proportionate share of the attorney fees from the recovery. The amendment to § 52-401 guts the In re Guardianship & Conservatorship of Bloomquist decision.
The stated purpose of the amendment to § 52-401 is to provide protection to those physicians, hospitals, and nurses who treat persons without any regard as to how that person is going to pay for those services. I do not have a quarrel with that purpose and would agree that any physician, hospital, or nurse who, when approached by a patient, does not require that before treatment is rendered, the patient show proof of insurance, medicare, or medicaid, or post a cash deposit if there is no insurance, or require another guaranty of payment, should get the protection of the stated purpose of § 52-401. However, I believe that the physicians, hospitals, or nurses seeking the protection afforded by § 52-401 should be required to make a showing that they do, in fact, regularly render health care without requiring, prior to rendering treatment, that the patient is covered by insurance, medicare, or medicaid or post a cash deposit, or require another guaranty of payment. Unless the physician, hospital, or nurse makes such a showing, there is no rational basis for affording this physician, hospital, or nurse the protection of § 52-401, and § 52-401 would be unconstitutional as to those particular physicians, hospitals, or nurses who do not make such a showing.
This case is troubling for another reason, namely, assignment of error No. 1, wherein the district court erred in overruling Parnell’s motion to compel discovery for the accounting records of Good Samaritan. I joined in the unanimous decision of this court in Parnell v. Madonna Rehab. Hosp., 258 Neb. 125, 602 N.W.2d 461 (1999), as to “usual and customary charges,” and I believe that my thinking has changed on this subject. In today’s society, the vast majority of patients who enter hospitals or visit physicians are insured in one way or another, be that a health maintenance or preferred provider organization, standard health insurance, medicare, medicaid, et cetera. A substantial number, if not the majority, of the medical bills of these persons are discounted by the insurance payor. To say that the “usual and customary charge” of a hospital is the amount it bills rather than the amount that it actually receives in payment is akin to assuming *887that every person who goes into a new car dealership pays “sticker price.” I have no idea what discovery of Good Samaritan’s records would show as to the “usual and customary” amount actually collected as opposed to the gross amount of its bill before discounts, but I believe that the trial court abused its discretion in denying Parnell access to this information which, in turn, may have provided the basis for this court to reconsider its decision in Parnell v. Madonna Rehab. Hosp. I respectfully submit that this discovery would also have shed light, and therefore be relevant, on whether Good Samaritan accepts all patients without requiring, before treatment is rendered, that the patient show proof of insurance, medicare, or medicaid or post a cash deposit, or require another guaranty of payment.
Additional reasons for my dissent can be found in my dissent in Bergan Mercy Health Sys. v. Haven, ante p. 846, 620 N.W.2d 339 (2000), and will not be reiterated here.