Facts

Plaintiff Dameron Hospital treated several patients injured in automobile accidents. Dameron recovered its contractually permitted fees from those patient's health insurance carrier, in this case, Kaiser. It then sought to seek recover beyond those amounts from the defendant insurance companies, which insured the individuals who allegedly caused the patient's injuries by way of hospital liens. However, plaintiff's agreement with Kaiser barred plaintiff's recovery of any balance amount from individual Kaiser members. When those liens were deemed deficient and were not honored by the liability insurance carriers, plaintiff filed suit against those carriers.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff alleged that it was entitled to recovery under its liens.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants contended that plaintiff's recovery was barred by the threshold requirement stated in Parnell v. Adventist Health System West (2005) 35 Cal.4th 595, 602-603 that the individual patient must owe the debt that is sought to be recovered from the third party. That case held that without such debt, there could be no recovery for a lien under the Hospital Lien Act.

Defendants also contended that plaintiff's liens were deficient and that some were barred by applicable statutes of limitation.

Defendants claimed that additional liens that plaintiff sought to include in this case but which were not listed in the complaint were not at issue in this case.

Settlement Discussions

There were no offers or demands between plaintiff and Allstate despite appearance at a mandatory settlement conference.

Result

The court granted motions for summary judgment by defendants Allstate Insurance Company and AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah Insurance Exchange (formerly CSAA).

Other Information

Other defendant insurance carriers previously reached settlements with plaintiff and were dismissed from this matter. FILING DATE: July 15, 2010.