Of course, it’s California. Haven’t you heard?? The criminals (drug dealers, murderers, rapists, drunks) have all the rights. The victims (dead or alive) have the burden of proof. Heck, even a policd officer does his job and gets suspended, pending investigation, afterwards.
If the total billed medical expenses was an amount in excess of what the medical providers were willing to accept as payment and if the injured party did not have to pay the balance, then there were no grounds to award restitution in an amount equal to the total billed since that was not the “out of pocket” amount. Like it or not, the law is specific in this area. Were the law written to allow restitution (not punitive damages) in an amount above and beyond actual damages then we would see medical providers billing huge sums of money, accepting a fraction as payment and then profiting on the balance in court.
Except that is how the collateral source rule has worked for years. Plaintiffs are forever submitting “billed” expenses as damages and the courts allow it. Now with the appeals court showing some sense, this may help – a lot!
Of course, it’s California. Haven’t you heard?? The criminals (drug dealers, murderers, rapists, drunks) have all the rights. The victims (dead or alive) have the burden of proof. Heck, even a policd officer does his job and gets suspended, pending investigation, afterwards.
If the total billed medical expenses was an amount in excess of what the medical providers were willing to accept as payment and if the injured party did not have to pay the balance, then there were no grounds to award restitution in an amount equal to the total billed since that was not the “out of pocket” amount. Like it or not, the law is specific in this area. Were the law written to allow restitution (not punitive damages) in an amount above and beyond actual damages then we would see medical providers billing huge sums of money, accepting a fraction as payment and then profiting on the balance in court.
Except that is how the collateral source rule has worked for years. Plaintiffs are forever submitting “billed” expenses as damages and the courts allow it. Now with the appeals court showing some sense, this may help – a lot!
So glad the Adjuster and it seems… undertands this ruling. KDP you flunk, go back to school, learn something and then come back to cry.