Nichols v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
Nichols v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
Opinion of the Court
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.
*336Following a hearing, the arbitrator awarded Nichols $10,000 in economic-loss benefits for her medical expenses. State Farm filed a motion with the district court to vacate the arbitration award.
The district court denied the motion, concluding that Minn. Stat. § 62Q.75, subd. 3, unambiguously requires a health-care provider to submit its charges to a health-plan company within six months of treatment. Because, the district court ruled, North Memorial submitted its charges to UCare within six months, North Memorial complied with the statute. The district court affirmed the arbitrator's decision and this appeal follows.
ISSUE
Did the district court err in concluding that the insured was entitled to economic-loss benefits because her medical provider complied with the requirements of Minn. Stat. § 62Q.75, subd. 3 ?
ANALYSIS
State Farm argues that the district court erred by declining to vacate Nichols's no-fault arbitration award. A no-fault arbitrator has the authority to decide questions of fact; courts interpret the law. Weaver v. State Farm Ins. Cos. ,
Minnesota's No-Fault Act, Minn. Stat. §§ 65B.41 -.71 (2018), requires no-fault insurers to provide benefits for "[b]asic economic loss" from injuries "arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle." Minn. Stat. § 65B.44, subd. 1(a). These economic-loss benefits, which include medical expenses, are payable as loss accrues. Minn. Stat. § 65B.54, subd. 1. "Loss" accrues when medical expenses are incurred.
State Farm argues that Minn. Stat. § 62Q.75, subd. 3 ( subdivision 3 ), bars Nichols's no-fault claim because the statute requires North Memorial to submit its charges to State Farm within six months and North Memorial failed to do so. Nichols contends that the statute unambiguously requires North Memorial to submit its charges to an insurer within six months and that by submitting its charges to UCare within six months, North Memorial complied with the statute. To reach our decision, we must interpret the statutory language in subdivision 3.
"When interpreting statutes, our function is to ascertain and effectuate the intention of the legislature." Anker v. Little ,
"If the statute is free from ambiguity, we look only at its plain language." Anker ,
Subdivision 3 establishes a timeline for health-care providers to "submit their charges" to health-plan companies. Minn. Stat. § 62Q.75, subd. 3. The statute provides:
[H]ealth care providers ... must submit their charges to a health plan company or third-party administrator within six months from the date of service or the date the health care provider knew or was informed of the correct name and address of the responsible health plan company or third-party administrator, whichever is later.
Subdivision 3 applies to no-fault claims.
State Farm argues that the phrase "responsible health plan company" in the second half of subdivision 3 modifies the phrase "a health plan company" in the first half of subdivision 3. By State Farm's interpretation, a health-care provider is required to submit its charges to the responsible health-plan company within six months of service.
We disagree. As we noted above, subdivision 3 is clear and unambiguous. Rather than modifying the phrase "a health plan company," the phrase "the responsible health plan company" relates only to the alternative timeline which may extend the six months from the "date of service" to six months from "the date the health care provider knew or was informed of the correct name and address of the responsible health plan company or third-party administrator, whichever is later." Minn. Stat. § 62Q.75, subd. 3. Put another way, the unambiguously stated sole obligation for health-care providers by this statutory language is to submit their charges to a health plan company . The unambiguously stated timeline for this submission is either six months from the date of service or six months from the date the health-care provider knew or was informed of the correct name of the responsible health-plan company, whichever is later.
Furthermore, State Farm's interpretation fails to give effect to the phrase "a health plan company," and we may not deem any word or phrase "superfluous, void, or insignificant." Schroedl ,
State Farm contends that this is an absurd result-the legislature would not require a health-care provider to submit charges to health-plan companies it knew were not responsible for the charges. Because subdivision 3 is clear and unambiguous, we need not reach an absurd-result analysis. As we have noted above, the rule of statutory construction concerning absurdity applies to unambiguous statutes only where the statute's "plain meaning utterly confounds the clear legislative purpose of the statute." Schatz ,
DECISION
We conclude that, because North Memorial complied with the requirements of subdivision 3, Nichols suffered a "loss" under the Minnesota No-Fault Act. The district court did not err in holding that subdivision 3 does not bar Nichols's no-fault claim. Therefore, the district court properly denied State Farm's motion to vacate the arbitration award.
Affirmed.
The bills totaled approximately $12,000, but Nichols waived the amount over $10,000 to remain within the arbitration limits. See Brown v. Allstate Ins. Co. ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Sherria NICHOLS v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published