Rolan v. New W. Health Servs.

• Decision Date: 06 August 2013
• Docket Number: No. DA 12–0622.,DA 12–0622.
• Parties: Dana ROLAN, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. NEW WEST HEALTH SERVICES, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

371 Mont. 228

307 P.3d 291

Dana ROLAN, Plaintiff and Appellee,

v.NEW WEST HEALTH SERVICES, Defendant and Appellant.

No. DA 12–0622.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs May 28, 2013.

Decided Aug. 6, 2013.

For Appellant: Leo S. Ward, Daniel J. Auerbach; Browning, Kalecyzc, Berry & Hoven; Helena, Montana.

For Appellee: Erik B. Thueson, Scott Peterson; Thueson Law Office; Helena, Montana.

Justice BETH BAKER delivered the Opinion of the Court.

[371 Mont. 228]¶ 1 New West Health Services (New West) appeals an order of the First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, certifying a class complaint against New West. The sole issue on appeal is whether the District Court abused its discretion by adopting the class definition proposed by Rolan and denying New West's motion to modify the class definition.

¶ 2 We affirm.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶ 3 Dana Rolan was injured in a vehicular collision on November 16, 2007 and sustained serious injury, resulting in medical expenses totaling approximately $120,000. Rolan carried health insurance through New West. The tortfeasor who caused the accident carried liability insurance through Unitrin Services Group (Unitrin). Unitrin accepted legal responsibility and paid approximately $100,000 of Rolan's medical bills.

¶ 4 The policy under which Rolan was insured stated that, in addition to the right of subrogation, New West had a right to be reimbursed for benefits it paid to an insured who also had recovered or settled with a third party. The policy also contained an exclusion for injuries covered by a medical payments provision of another liability carrier:

5.30. 10 LIABILITY INSURANCE POLICY MEDICAL PAYMENTS

Healthcare services to treat any injury are not covered services if you receive payments for that injury under a medical payments provision of a liability insurance policy, whether insured by an insurance company or self-insured. Examples of liability insurance policies to which this section applies include, but are not limited to, automobile, homeowner and business liability policies.

¶ 5 On January 26, 2010, Rolan filed a complaint against New West alleging individual and class claims for breach of contract, violation of made-whole rights, and unfair claims settlement practices under §§ 33–18–201, MCA, et seq., authorizing punitive damages. Rolan alleged that New West failed to pay approximately $100,000 of her medical expenses because Unitrin, the third party liability carrier, had “paid the majority of the bills.” Rolan sought to certify a class under M.R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) for declaratory and injunctive relief arising from the claims for breach of contract and violation of made-whole rights. She sought certification under Rule 23(b)(3) for damages arising from New West's alleged unfair claims settlement practices. Although Rolan asserted that a class definition was unnecessary at that time, she proposed the following class parameters:

(1) All class members were insured by New West for the period commencing eight years prior to filing of this suit through the date this Court will enter judgment on the merits.

(2) All members incurred medical costs due to the negligence or wrongdoing of a third party tortfeasor or tortfeasors.

(3) For all members, New West avoided paying benefits because the tortfeasor or tortfeasors paid medical costs as part of tort damages.

(4) For all members, New West failed to perform a “made-whole” determination before avoiding payment of benefits.

¶ 6 New West filed an Answer on July 7, 2010, denying that it refused to pay Rolan's medical expenses and opposing class certification. New West argued that the class should not be certified because Plaintiffs did not meet the Rule 23(a) criteria and “failed to appropriately define a class of persons.” On November 17, 2011, the District Court held a hearing on the motion for class certification.

¶ 7 On April 25, 2012, the District Court granted Rolan's motion to certify the class complaint. The District Court determined that Rolan had met the Rule 23(a) certification requirements and, citing our decision in Diaz v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mont. (Diaz I), 2011 MT 322, 363 Mont. 151, 267 P.3d 756, rejected New West's argument that the class was imprecisely defined. In Diaz I, considering whether a class should have been certified alleging similar claims, we concluded that “the prerequisites set forth in Rule 23(a) sufficiently define a class in this case, and any additional definition by this Court, at this time, is unnecessary.” Diaz I, ¶ 30.¹

¶ 8 On May 4, 2012, the District Court issued an order certifying the class under Rule 23(b)(2) for declaratory and injunctive relief. The Certification Order contained a class definition that substantially mirrored the definition proposed in Rolan's complaint:

(1) They were insured by New West at any time from January 26, 2002 (eight years preceding the filing of this lawsuit) through the date that this Court will ultimately enter judgment on the merits.

(2) They incurred medical costs due to the negligence or wrongdoing of a third-party tortfeasor or tortfeasors.

(3) Some or all of the medical costs were not paid by New West, but were paid by the tortfeasors or insurance covering damages caused by the tortfeasors.

(4) New West failed to perform a “made-whole” determination before avoiding payment of benefits.

The court then clarified how that class definition was to be interpreted:

The term “avoiding payment of benefits,” is intended to include situations where New West did not make payment of benefits because a tortfeasor was paying medical costs. It also includes situations where New West received reimbursement from medical providers when a tortfeasor commenced paying medical costs. It includes traditional subrogation which was achieved without first making a made-whole determination. Finally, it includes what might be characterized as de facto subrogation as described by the Montana Supreme Court in State Auditor v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of MT, 2009 MT 318, ¶¶ 18–19 [352 Mont. 423, 218 P.3d 475].

¶ 9 In its order granting class certification, the District Court noted that New West employed a company called First Recovery Group to assist it in subrogating against third-party liability carriers through the following procedures:

New West contracted with a Michigan company called First Recovery Group to identify which of New West's insured[s] might have been injured in an accident where a liability carrier was involved. If First Recovery identified a carrier, it would direct the carrier to pay the medical bills, allowing New West to avoid payment. If New West had already paid the bills, First Recovery would direct the liability carrier to reimburse New West.

(Emphasis added.) The plaintiffs alleged that those procedures would result in New West being either reimbursed by a provider who had been paid by a liability carrier or not paying an insured's medical bill if the liability carrier already paid it—in both cases allegedly without first determining that the insured had been made whole.

¶ 10 On July 12, 2012, New West moved, pursuant to Rule 23(c)(1)(C), to limit the class to those insureds who timely filed claims for benefits covered by New West. In support of the motion, New West noted that, following remand in Diaz I, First Judicial District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock considered similar arguments regarding the appropriate class definition and decided to confine the class to those insureds who had timely filed claims for benefits covered under the State's health insurance plan. New West argued that, “[i]n the event this case proceeds with a substantially different class definition, there is a strong likelihood for divergent legal conclusions that may not be reconciled between this case and Diaz.” New West thus sought to limit the class definition to those insureds who had met the claim filing deadline:

(1) individuals insured by New West who timely submitted claims for covered benefits pursuant to the terms of their health insurance plan(s) for health care services that took place no earlier than eight years prior to the filing of the Complaint in this action, which is January 26, 2010; (2) who were injured through the legal fault of persons who have legal obligations to compensate them for all damages sustained; and

(3) who have not been made whole for their damages (or for whom New West conducted no made whole analysis) because New West has programmatically failed to pay benefits for their covered medical costs.

¶ 11 Rolan objected to modification of the class definition on grounds that New West's “billing procedures and insurance practices” would prevent numerous insureds from filing their claims with New West. Rolan stated that an insured generally submits claims to the medical provider, who in turn decides whether to bill New West or another liability carrier. Rolan also referred to New West's employment of First Recovery Group “to get tortfeasors to pay rather than New West[.]” She suggested, therefore, that New West was “directly or indirectly encouraging its preferred providers to bill the tortfeasor,” such that New West would not receive the claim when a liability carrier was involved.

¶ 12 On September 17, 2012, the District Court denied New West's motion to modify the class definition. The court stated that it agreed with Rolan that “if New West's customer service instructs their insureds to send their bills to the tortfeasor's liability carrier, no claim for benefits would be made to New West, thus defeating or compromising the insureds' made-whole rights.” New West appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 13 We review class certification orders for an abuse of discretion. Chipman v. N.W. Healthcare Corp., 2012 MT 242, ¶ 17, 366 Mont. 450, 288 P.3d 193. We consider “not whether this Court would have reached the same decision, but whether the district court acted arbitrarily without conscientious judgment or...