Sanchez

In this personal injury lawsuit, the trial court granted a motion reducing the jury’s award of past medical expenses from the amount billed by the medical providers to the amount actually paid to the providers under Medicare and Medi-Cal. Three of the plaintiffs appealed, contending the trial court misapplied California’s collateral source rule when it reduced the damages to reflect the difference between the amount billed by medical providers and the amount they accepted as payment under Medicare. Plaintiffs did not challenge the reduction in damages related to payments made under Medi-Cal.

Defendants contend the appeal must be dismissed as untimely and, alternatively, the trial court correctly extended Hanif v. Housing Authority (1988) 200 Cal.App.3d 635 [ 246 Cal.Rptr. 192 ] (Hanif) to bills covered by Medicare. In Hanif , the appellate court reduced the jury’s award of past medical expense from the amount billed to the amount paid under Medi-Cal.

In the unpublished portion of this opinion, we conclude this case is governed by the California Supreme Court’s recent decision, Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. (2011) 52 Cal.4th 541 [ 129 Cal.Rptr.3d 325 , 257…