Collateral source payments

What it would have done

Summary by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Under current law, as a general rule in a personal injury case, evidence may not be admitted regarding payments made to compensate a person for injury from persons other than the defendant (collateral source payments). Current law makes an exception and allows evidence of collateral source payments to be admitted for medical malpractice cases and cases involving a personal injury sustained as the result of negligence by a long-term care provider. A separate provision prohibits the admission of evidence of collateral source payments for the purpose of rebutting the presumption that billing statements and invoices that are patient health care records state the reasonable value of the health care services provided to an injured person in all other matters.

The bill allows, for the purpose of determining the reasonable value of any type of personal injury claim or of any action seeking payment for uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, including the reasonable medical expenses involved in those claims, the fact finder to consider evidence of collateral source payments and evidence of the injured person's obligations of subrogation or reimbursement resulting from those collateral source payments. Under the bill, evidence of amounts paid or incurred by the claimant in recovering a collateral source payment is not admissible. The bill allows the admission of evidence of collateral source payments for the purpose of rebutting the presumption that billing statements and invoices that are patient health care records state the reasonable value of the health care services provided to the injured person.

Who's behind it

2 senators are its authors⁠. All 2 are Republicans.

13 more lawmakers signed on in support⁠.