By Tax Attorney
The basic collateral resource rule allows plaintiffs to receive the full amount of their medical bills from the defendants without discounting the bills with payments from insurance and other resources.
THE NEW LAW
North Carolina House Bill 542, recently signed into law by Governor Bev
Purdue, makes several significant changes to North Carolina law. The newly enacted Rule 414 of the North Carolina Rule of Evidence states that evidence of medical expenses is limited to evidence of the amounts actually paid by the PLAINTIFF to satisfy the bills,
as well as the amounts actually needed to satisfy any unpaid and
outstanding bills.
DISCUSSION
Under this new collateral source
rule, if your client has insurance or other means to pay the medical bills, the
potential defendant will receive a credit for that against the total medicals.
For example if your client’s hospital bill was $5,000 but his/her
personal insurance paid $4800 of the bill leaving a balance of only $200, then
you will only be able to count the amount that is unpaid in your medicals
demand, i.e. $200.
As someone who does not normally take on personal injury claims, I find myself turning down the new cases that may pop up. It simply is not worth it as this point. Insurance companies are tightening their belts and settling for pennies on the dollar, even in cases where their clients are 100% at fault.
So until next time solos Good Luck on your journey!
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