Ann L. Miller and Richard A. Miller v. Glenn L. Dobbs, D.O. and Partners in Health, 2013 Ind. LEXIS 572

Ann Miller suffered a massive stroke after a cesarean/tubal ligation; malpractice suit filed 3/31/2008 in Dearborn Superior Court.
Proposed complaint sent to Indiana Dept. of Insurance by certified mail 3/18/2008; $7 filing/processing fees omitted from that mailing.
Department refused to consider filing until fees were received; Millers mailed fees 4/4/2008; Department re-stamped 4/7/2008.
Medical Review Panel issued its opinion in July 2010; defendants asserted statute-of-limitations defense.
Trial court granted summary judgment for defendants; Millers appealed; Court of Appeals reversed finding timely filing.
Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer to resolve whether the seven-dollar fee omission affected filing timeliness.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the proposed complaint was timely filed despite missing fees.	Miller filed timely; fees due later; filing occurred when mailed.	Fees must accompany filing; late payment defeats timely filing.	Timely filing under MMA; fees did not control timeliness; remand for merits.
Whether waiver rules applied to the statute-of-limitations defense.	Defense waived by not raising earlier during panel review.	Waiver not required; statute-of-limitations is an affirmative defense.	No waiver; defense preserved and considered on the merits.
Whether the Department’s fee-payment timing affects filing date under MMA.	Fees accompany filing; omission does not nullify filing.	Filing not complete until fees paid.	Filing date controlled by mailing; fees do not defeat timely filing.

Deckard v. Adams, 246 Ind. 123 (Ind. 1965) (public policy preference for decide on merits over technicalities)
Boostrom v. Bach, 622 N.E.2d 175 (Ind. 1993) (fees enforcement via procedural rules, not jurisdictional terms)
Brady v. E. Ind. Prod. Credit Ass’n, 396 N.E.2d 335 (Ind. 1978) (alternatives for enforcing filing fees outside jurisdictional terms)