It depends! Under T.C.A. § 24-5-113(a), “medical, hospital or doctor bills” incurred due to an injury that are itemized in the complaint and attached as an exhibit are deemed to be “necessary and reasonable” as long as the total amount of the bills does not exceed $4000.
And, under T.C.A. § 24-5-113(b):
“ . . . if an itemization of or copies of the medical, hospital or doctor bills which were paid or incurred because of such personal injury are served upon the other parties at least ninety (90) days prior to the date set for trial, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such medical, hospital or doctor bills are reasonable.”
But what if, after an injury causing accident, a hospital files submits its charges to Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) or some other insurance company, gets paid the reasonable and customary amount provided by their contract, and then tries to collect the difference between the billed amount and the contract amount by perfecting a lien against the cause of action under T.C.A. §§ 29-22-102 (Tennessee Hospital Lien Act)?
In West v. Shelby County Healthcare Corp. 2014 Tenn. LEXIS 1033, (12/19/14), the Tennessee Supreme Court, said, in essence, that hospitals cannot have their cake and eat it too. If they accept the contract amount, that is all they get.
“We have already held thatpersons insured by an insurance company are intended third-party beneficiaries of the contract between their insurance company and a hospital. Benton v. Vanderbilt Univ., 137 S.W.3d 614, 620 (Tenn. 2004). Thus, with regard to an insurance company's customers, “reasonable charges” are the charges agreed to by the insurance company and the hospital. Nishihama v. City &Countyof San Francisco, 93 Cal. App. 4th 298, 112 Cal. Rptr.2d 861, 867 (App. Ct. 2001); Hoffman v. Travelers Indem. Co. of Am., 2013-1575, p. 10 (La. 5/7/2014); 144 So.3d 993, 1000. The Med's contract with BCBST and BHSG defined what the reasonable charges for the medical services provided to Mses. West and Heags-Johnson would be.”
But even the Court got a bit confused when it pointed out that:
“The presumption in Tenn. Code Ann. § 24-5-113(a)(1) (2000) that itemized medical bills are necessary and reasonable does not apply to this case. That presumption applies only to personal injury actions brought in any courtby injured parties against the persons responsible for causing their injuries. Tenn. Code Ann. § 24-5-113(a)(2). In addition, the presumption does not apply when the total cost of the medical bills exceeds $4,000. Tenn. Code Ann. § 24-5-113(a)(3). The claims made by Mses. West and Heags-Johnson are not personal injury claims against the persons who caused their injuries, and the amount of each claim exceeded $4,000. Accordingly, we must assess the reasonableness of the Med's charges without the presumption that they are reasonable.”
Actually, as we point here, there is a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness, regardless of the amount, if the bills are served on the other parties at least 90 days in advance of trial under T.C.A. § 24-5-113(b).
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