Free Motion in Limine - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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Daniel B. Treon ­ 014911 Kelly Jo - 021525 TREON & SHOOK, P.L.L.C. 2700 North Central Avenue, Suite 1000 Phoenix, Arizona 85004 Telephone: (602) 265-7100 Facsimile: (602) 265-7400 Attorney for Plaintiffs UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF ARIZONA TERESA AUGUST, a single woman, MARK AUGUST and JANE DOE AUGUST, husband and wife, for themselves and as parents and guardians for their minor child, MARCUS DAKOTAH AUGUST Plaintiffs, vs. CITY OF PHOENIX, a body politic of the State of Arizona; OFFICER LYLE MONSON and JANE DOE MONSON, husband and wife; OFFICER NICHOLAS LYNDE and JANE DOE LYNDE, husband and wife; OFFICER TOBY DUNN and JANE DOE DUNN, husband and wife; OFFICER T. HEDGECOKE and JANE DOE HEDGECOKE, husband and wife; and R. GRIFFIN and JANE DOE GRIFFIN, husband and wife Defendants. ___________________________________ _ ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. CV03-1892 PHX ROS

PLAINTIFFS' MOTION IN LIMINE NO. 10 RE: COLLATERAL SOURCE OF PAYMENT FOR TERESA AUGUST'S MEDICAL BILLS

Plaintiff Teresa August moves to exclude from trial evidence that her medical
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bills were paid for by her health insurance, CIGNA. Allowing such evidence would
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violate the collateral source rule.
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Case 2:03-cv-01892-ROS

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Defense counsel has indicated that their intention to contest the medical bills which Plaintiff has submitted in her damages claim as not "reasonable and customary," since they were paid in part by Mrs. August's health insurance. Defendants' counsel offered that Plaintiffs could avoid calling the Custodians of Record for each of Teresa August's healthcare providers if Plaintiff would agree that her medical damages amount only to the amount that CIGNA paid, a difference of approximately $19,000.00. Plaintiff will not agree to this, and thus is forced to waste a significant amount of trial time in calling the Custodians of Records to lay foundation for the medical bills and testify that the charges stated therein constitute what they understand to be the reasonable and customary charges for the services rendered. Defendants also intend to enter into evidence an "Equivalent Value Statement" ("EVS") generated by CIGNA. Cross-examining the Custodians of Record as to whether the charges made by the individual medical services providers are "reasonable and customary" by comparing what the insurance company paid for those same charges and introducing the EVS will violate the collateral source rule. The impropriety of Defendants' position could not be clearer. Recently, in

Lopez v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 212 Ariz. 198, 129 P.3d 47 (App. 2006), the Court of Appeals held that an injured party was entitled to claim and recover the full amount of her reasonable medical expenses for which she was charged. The "collateral source rule" states that payment is made to or benefits conferred on the injured party from other sources are not credited against the tort-feasor's liability, although they cover all or a part of the harm for which the tort-feasor is liable. Id. at 202, 491. Thus, Defendants should not be allowed to introduce any evidence which references CIGNA, or challenge the Custodians of Records which Plaintiffs will have to call for the admission of the medical bills on whether the amount of the service providers' charges were paid by health insurance.
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Finally, any reference to CIGNA and health insurance questions in medical records should be redacted from the medical records to prevent the jury from speculating about whether Mrs. August had health insurance as such speculation may lead to an improper reduction in the amount of her award. DATED this 17th day of November, 2006. TREON & SHOOK, P.L.L.C. By: s/ Daniel B. Treon Daniel B. Treon Kelly Jo Attorney for Plaintiffs

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on November 17, 2006, I electronically transmitted the attached document to the Clerk's Office using the CM/ECF System for filing and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic to the following CM/ECF registrants: Daniel B. Treon: Kathleen Wieneke: [email protected]; [email protected] [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] [email protected]; [email protected] [email protected]; [email protected]

Jennifer L. Holsman: Randall H. Warner:

By:

s/ Aly Shomar-Esparza

Case 2:03-cv-01892-ROS

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