134 A.D.3d 495

N.Y. App. Div.

2015

In the Matter of ALLSTATE PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v NEW WAY MASSAGE THERAPY P.C., as Assignee of Nancy Febus, Respondent.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department

19 N.Y.S.3d 897

Mazzarelli, J.P., Richter, Manzanet-Daniels and Kapnick, JJ.

In the Matter of ALLSTATE PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v NEW WAY MASSAGE THERAPY P.C., as Assignee of Nancy Febus, Respondent. [19 NYS3d 897]—

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Cynthia S. Kern, J.), entered on or about April 2, 2014, which denied the petition to vacate the award of the master arbitrator, and confirmed the award, unanimously affirmed, with costs.

Whether or not the fee-sharing arrangement at issue constitutes unprofessional conduct (see 8 NYCRR 29.1 [b] [4]), it does not constitute a defense to a no-fault action (compare State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v Mallela, 4 NY3d 313, 319 [2005] [“insurance carriers may withhold payment for medical services provided by fraudulently incorporated enterprises to which patients have assigned their claims“]). It is solely a matter for the appropriate state licensing board (see e.g. Necula v Glass, 231 AD2d 457 [1st Dept 1996]; see also H & H Chiropractic Servs., P.C. v Metropolitan Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 47 Misc 3d 1075, 1078 [Civ Ct, Queens County 2015]). Concur—Mazzarelli, J.P., Richter, Manzanet-Daniels and Kapnick, JJ.