Hennepin County District Court File No. 27-CV-17-12549
Charles D. Slane, Nathan M. Maus, TSR Injury Law,
Bloomington, Minnesota (for respondent)
Chris
Angell, David M. Werwie & Associates, St. Paul, Minnesota
(for appellant)
Considered and decided by Worke, Presiding Judge; Schellhas,
Judge; and Slieter, Judge.
SYLLABUS
An
insured incurs a loss under the Minnesota No-Fault Act when
her health-care provider complies with the billing
requirements of Minn. Stat. § 62Q.75, subd. 3 (2018), by
submitting its charges to a health-plan company within six
months of service.
OPINION
SLIETER, JUDGE
Appellant
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
challenges the denial of its motion to vacate respondent
Sherria Nichols's no-fault arbitration award, arguing
that the district court erred by concluding that Minn. Stat.
§ 62Q.75, subd. 3, did not bar respondent's no-fault
claim. We affirm.
FACTS
On
November 27, 2014, Nichols was injured in a motor-vehicle
accident and transported to North Memorial Hospital (North
Memorial), where she received treatment in the emergency
department. At the time of the accident, Nichols was insured
by a no-fault insurance policy with State Farm.
In
January 2015, Nichols applied for no-fault benefits under the
State Farm policy. Shortly thereafter, North Memorial
submitted a $2, 753.20 invoice to State Farm for
Nichols's November emergency-room visit. State Farm paid
the invoice.
From
April 2015 through December 2015, Nichols received several
additional treatments at North Memorial. The charges for
these treatments were not submitted to State Farm. Instead,
North Memorial submitted them to Nichols's health
insurer, UCare. North Memorial submitted each charge to UCare
within six months of treatment, and UCare paid each charge.
In July
2016, Nichols filed a petition for no-fault arbitration,
seeking an award of $10, 000 from State Farm for the
health-care expenses incurred for her 2015
treatments.[1]For reasons not germane to this appeal,
Nichols filed a subsequent arbitration petition in February
2017 seeking an award for the same 2015 treatments.
Following
a hearing, the arbitrator awarded Nichols $10, 000 in
economic-loss benefits for her medical expenses. State Farm
filed a motion with the ...