2021 Ark. App. 401
Ark. Ct. App.2021Background
- St. Bernards Hospital negotiates reduced rates with insurers; patients typically assign insurance benefits to the hospital for billing.
- Tracey Scott and Lorenzo Hampton were injured in 2015, had BCBS coverage, and assigned benefits to St. Bernards; the hospital instead treated their claims as third-party-liability and pursued collection at the hospital’s higher standard rate.
- St. Bernards and its collection contractor RevClaims filed liens for the full standard charges; Scott and Hampton paid those amounts and later sued St. Bernards and RevClaims alleging breach of contract, ADTPA violations, unjust enrichment, and breach of fiduciary duty; they later amended to add ProAssurance Indemnity Company, Inc.
- St. Bernards moved for summary judgment twice: the first motion raised proximate-cause defenses; the second invoked the voluntary-payment rule and challenged the ADTPA claim; RevClaims adopted the motions.
- At a hearing noticed for the first motion, the circuit court issued a letter opinion granting summary judgment on grounds raised in the second motion and later entered a dismissal-with-prejudice order naming only RevClaims and St. Bernards.
- Because the second amended complaint had added ProAssurance and ProAssurance had answered, the circuit-court order did not dispose of all parties; the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal without prejudice for lack of a final, appealable order.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finality/Appealability | The order dismissing claims is final and appealable. | The order disposed of claims against movants; appeal should proceed. | Not final: ProAssurance remained a party, so no final, appealable order; appeal dismissed without prejudice. |
| Court’s consideration of motions | Court was scheduled and limited to hearing the first (proximate-cause) motion; it should not have granted the second motion at that hearing. | Both motions were argued and the court could grant summary judgment on the second motion. | Appellate court did not reach the merits of this dispute because it lacked jurisdiction due to nonfinality. |
| Merits (voluntary-payment rule, proximate cause, ADTPA) | Scott and Hampton alleged St. Bernards wrongfully sought full standard rates and violated ADTPA, seeking recovery. | St. Bernards argued plaintiffs’ damages were caused by plaintiffs’ failure to file insurance claims and invoked the voluntary-payment rule to bar recovery. | Not decided: merits of these defenses and claims were not reached due to lack of final order. |
Key Cases Cited
- Jones v. Huckabee, 363 Ark. 239 (2005) (appealability is a jurisdictional question courts must raise sua sponte)
- Kelly v. Kelly, 310 Ark. 244 (1992) (final, appealable judgment must dismiss parties or conclude their rights)
- Jackson v. Yowell, 307 Ark. 222 (1991) (same rule on finality and appealability)