Slusher

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs were insured by Kaiser Permanente (Kaiser), a health insurer with whom the hospital had contracted to provide emergency services for a prescribed fee. On November 13, 2010, Slusher was driving a car that was rear-ended by another car. After the collision, an ambulance transported Slusher’s passenger, Victoria, to the hospital and Slusher followed. The hospital treated both plaintiffs. The hospital accepted

2 $957 from Kaiser for each plaintiff as full payment for the emergency treatment provided. But the hospital later asserted liens claiming $3,057.23 for Slusher’s care and $2,969.93 for Victoria’s care. When plaintiffs resolved their litigation against the driver who caused their injuries, the driver’s insurance carrier withheld the amount claimed by the hospital minus the amount already paid by Kaiser. In Slusher’s case, the insurance carrier withheld $2,100.23 from the settlement sum and issued a check for that amount payable jointly to Slusher and the hospital. Victoria’s settlement sum was similarly divided. The purpose of the Hospital Lien Act (HLA), Civil Code section 3045.1, is “to secure part of the patient’s recovery from liable third persons to…