Dameron Hospital Assn. v. United Services Automobile Assn. CA3

FACTS AND HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS

A. Treatment and COAs

In September 2006, Mercedes and her daughter Jana, a minor, were injured in an automobile accident and treated at Dameron. Dameron presented Mercedes with COA forms for her and Jana, and she signed them both. Dameron treated Mercedes’s injuries on at least three other occasions, and, at each visit, according to Craig Haupt, the Credit and Collection Manager for Dameron, she signed a COA. Paragraph 1 of the COA form, labeled “CONSENT AND AGREEMENT TO MEDICAL AND SURGICAL PROCEDURES,” included this language: “[t]he undersigned assigns to the hospital indicated and the physician(s) any insurance benefits due the patient or insured because of the hospital and medical services, and authorize[s] payment directly to them.” In paragraph 3, the patient or patient’s representative agreed to “pay the account of the hospital in accordance with the regular rates and terms of the hospital.” Paragraph 8, labeled “ASSIGNMENT OF INSURANCE BENEFITS,” included this language: “[t]he undersigned authorizes, whether he/she signs as agent or as patient, direct payment to the hospital and the physicians specifically associated with the…