-summary by Anna Lusk
On April 28th, the Florida Supreme Court considered whether evidence of Medicare benefits in a personal injury case may be considered to calculate past medical expenses. The Court ruled that this evidence may not be considered to calculate past medical expenses.
This case began when Ms. Dial slipped and fell on a property owned by Calusa Palms Master Association, Inc. The trial court disallowed Dial from introducing as evidence the total amount of her past medical expenses and limited her to introducing only the discounted amounts paid by Medicare. When the trial ended, Dial appealed, arguing that another court case, “Joerg”, allowed her to admit the full amount of her past medical expenses as evidence. The Second District Court agreed with the trial court’s ruling. Dial again appealed this case to the Florida Supreme Court.
In its analysis of the case, the Florida Supreme Court noted that the issue here is whether the holding in Joerg applies to past medical expenses. The Supreme Court decided that the scope of Joerg only dealt with future medical expenses. Therefore, Joerg could not be applied to this case. The Supreme Court upheld the trial court and the appellate court’s decision that evidence of Medicare benefits in a personal injury case may not be considered to calculate past medical expenses.
Judge Polston concurred with the majority’s decision. He noted that he would limit evidence of past medical expenses to the amounts that medical providers were willing or required to accept in full satisfaction for the services rendered to a party. Judge Labarga dissented. He argued that the holding in Joerg should apply to past medical expenses along with future medical expenses.
