Martin v. COMPANION HEALTHCARE CORP, 3750.
| Decision Date | 01 March 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 3750.,3750. |
| Citation | 357 S.C. 570,593 S.E.2d 624 |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Estalita MARTIN, on behalf of herself and all other similarly situated individuals, Appellant, v. COMPANION HEALTHCARE CORP., and Healthcare Recoveries, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, Respondents. |
George H. McMaster, for Appellant.
Carolyn Courville, of Houston, James Theodore Gentry, W. Howard Boyd, Jr., Jennifer E. Johnson, and Ronald K. Wray, II, all of Greenville, for Respondents.
Estalita Martin sued both her health maintenance organization, Companion HealthCare, and Healthcare Recoveries, Inc., alleging, among other things, that the amount they collected from her in an exercise of Companion's subrogation right exceeded the cost of her medical bills. The trial court granted the defendants' motions for summary judgment, finding Martin's action was barred by the statute of limitations and the doctrine of voluntary payment. We affirm.
Companion is a licensed health maintenance organization that arranges for the provision of health care to its members by entering into contracts with health care providers located throughout South Carolina. Pursuant to these arrangements, Companion compensates physicians, hospitals, clinics, and other entities for health care provided to Companion's members.
Appellant, Estalita Martin, was a member of Companion when, on January 13, 1993, she was injured while riding a motorcycle. Martin brought suit against the other party to the accident. The contract between Companion and Martin gave Companion a subrogation right for amounts it paid to health care providers on Martin's behalf for which she obtained compensation from the at-fault driver in the motorcycle wreck litigation. By letter dated June 4, 1993, Martin's attorney assured Companion that he would "protect [Companion's] right of subrogation upon the settlement of the above matter and upon notification from [his] client that these terms are acceptable."
Through 1995, Companion paid total claims related to Martin's accident in the amount of $13,721.45. After Martin settled her lawsuit against the at-fault driver, Companion instructed Healthcare Recoveries to pursue a subrogation claim against Martin in the amount of $13,415.45.1
Acting on behalf of Companion, Healthcare Recoveries executed a release of Companion's subrogation right, dated August 4, 1995. In consideration for this release, Martin paid $13,415.45 to Healthcare Recoveries on August 8, 1995.
Martin initiated this lawsuit against Companion and Healthcare Recoveries more than four years later, in December 1999. Although the complaint asserts twelve different causes of action, the gravamen of Martin's claims is that Companion could not legally assert its contractual right to subrogation,2 or in the alternative, that Companion was not entitled to the amount it recovered in subrogation.
Throughout the discovery process, Martin demanded access to Companion's "provider contracts," which Martin asserts would determine how much Companion paid providers for Martin's medical expenses. Companion failed to respond to the request.
Companion and Healthcare Recoveries filed motions to dismiss, which the trial court partially converted to motions for summary judgment. The court granted the motions, and Martin appeals.
LAW/ANALYSIS
Martin first argues the trial court erred when it converted the defendants' motions to dismiss into motions for summary judgment. We disagree.
In support of their motions to dismiss based on the statute of limitations and the voluntary payment doctrine, Companion and Healthcare Recoveries submitted affidavits from Rebecca Haberman, the claims examiner who received the check from Martin in exchange for the release of subrogation rights, and David Pankau, the senior vice-president of Companion who detailed the amounts Companion paid on Martin's behalf. Martin filed a memorandum in opposition to the defendants' motions and provided affidavits from Timothy Schmidt, an auditor for health benefits plans, and from Martin herself.
When a court is considering a motion to dismiss and matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court, "the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56." Rule 12(b), SCRCP. See also Baird v. Charleston County, 333 S.C. 519, 511 S.E.2d 69, 73 (1999)
().
With respect to Companion's and Healthcare Recoveries' motions to dismiss based upon the statute of limitations and voluntary payment defenses, the trial court considered matters submitted by the parties outside the pleadings. Importantly, Martin had notice that matters outside the pleadings would be considered because she was served with the affidavits two months prior to the motion hearing and was afforded the opportunity to respond. Indeed, Martin took advantage of this opportunity by submitting affidavits of her own to the trial court along with her memorandum opposing the defendants' motions. Thus, we find no error in the trial court's conversion of the defendants' motions to dismiss into motions for summary judgment.
Martin next argues the trial court should not have granted summary judgment to Companion and Healthcare Recoveries without first permitting her to conduct discovery relating to alleged contracts in which the medical providers who treated Martin may have given Companion year-end rebates. We disagree.
"Summary judgment is appropriate only if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Cunningham ex. rel. Grice v. Helping Hands, Inc., 352 S.C. 485, 491, 575 S.E.2d 549, 552 (2003)
. When considering a motion for summary judgment, the court views the evidence and all inferences that can be reasonably drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id.
In this case, the trial court found Companion and Healthcare Recoveries were entitled to summary judgment because Martin's claims were barred by the three-year statute of limitations for causes of action for breach of contract and fraud. S.C.Code...
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