Moore

To resolve this defense appeal, we descend down a rabbit hole into the upside-down world of health care billing, where different payers pay different prices for the same services and those least equipped to pay, pay the most; yet an injured, uninsured plaintiff, Lillie Moore, must somehow prove the reasonable value of the medical services she incurred following a motor vehicle collision. Defendant Richard Mercer, who admits liability, misinterprets Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. (2011) 52 Cal.4th 541 [ 129 Cal.Rptr.3d 325 , 257 P.3d 1130 ] (Howell), asks us to expand its logic far beyond the facts and rationale presented, and insists we must overrule our holding in Katiuzhinsky v. Perry (2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 1288 [ 62 Cal.Rptr.3d 309 ] (Katiuzhinsky) that the full amount of a provider’s bill can be relevant to prove the reasonable value of the services. We disagree with defendant and amici curiae Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada that this case compels such an unprecedented expansion of Howell, a rebuke of Katiuzhinsky , and the pronouncement of a new rule that the total…