Collateral Source Rule [Does Not Apply To Costs Paid By Medicare]

To understand the significance of the new decision issued by the 4th District, here is a brief summary of the law outlined by the Illinois Supreme Court in Arthur v. Catuour (2005).

Collateral Source Rule: Benefits received by the plaintiff from a collateral source (i.e., health-care insurance provider) will not diminish damages otherwise recoverable from the defendant.

Issue ruled on by the Illinois Supreme Court: Can a plaintiff recover as damages the entire amount billed by health-care providers for medical services, or whether a plaintiff is limited to recovering the discounted amount actually paid for the medical services by the plaintiff's insurance carrier?

Holding: The plaintiff may present [not necessarily recover] to the jury the amount that her health-care providers initially billed for services rendered, regardless of what was actually paid.

New Law / Bottom Line:

On 04/18/07, the 4th District ruled, as a matter of first impression in Illinois, if a plaintiff's medical bills were paid by Medicare [as opposed to a healthcare insurance company], the plaintiff can recover only the amount of medical bills actually paid, and not the amount billed. The court held the collateral source rule does not apply to costs paid by Medicare [Wills v. Foster, 2007 WL 1192144].

A just decision for the defense!