William Findling, et al., Appellants, vs. Group Health Plan, Inc., d/b/a Health Partners and Regions Hospital, Respondent (A21-1518), Essentia Health, et al., Respondents (A21-1527), Fairview Health Services, et al., Respondents (A21-1528), Allina Health Systems, Respondent (A21-1530).
A21-1518, A21-1527, A21-1528, A21-1530
STATE OF MINNESOTA IN COURT OF APPEALS
Filed August 8, 2022
Jesson, Judge
Hennepin County District Court File Nos. 27-CV-21-3052, 27-CV-21-5612, 27-CV-21-3045, 27-CV-21-3053
Brandon E. Thompson, Barry M. Landy, Rachel L. Barrett, Jacob F. Siegel, Ciresi Conlin LLP, Minneapolis, Minnesota (for appellants)
Anthony J. Novak, Jason T. Johnson, Larson King, LLP, St. Paul, Minnesota (for respondent Group Health Plan, Inc. d/b/a Health Partners and Regions Hospital)
David A. Schooler, Daniel J. Supalla, Christopher T. Ruska, Nilan Johnson Lewis P.A., Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Jay P. Lefkowitz (pro hac vice), Kirkland & Ellis LLP, New York, New York (for respondents Essentia Health, et al.)
Anupama D. Sreekanth, Gregory E. Karpenko, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., Minneapolis, Minnesota (for respondents Fairview
Considered and decided by Bryan, Presiding Judge; Jesson, Judge; and Klaphake, Judge.*
SYLLABUS
Minnesota Statutes section 8.31, subdivision 3a (2020) , the private attorney general provision, does not create a private right of action under the Minnesota Health Records Act,Minnesota Statutes section 144.292, subdivision 2 (2020) , for underdisclosure of health records.Minnesota Statutes section 144.651 (2020) , the Minnesota Health Care Bill of Rights, does not create a private right of action for underdisclosure of health records.
OPINION
JESSON, Judge
Appellants Heather Busby, Mark Dolan, William Findling, and Kim Skaro requested their health records from seven Minnesota health care providers. After not receiving complete records within the 30-day time period set out in the Minnesota Health Records Act,
The district court dismissed their claims, and this appeal follows. Because—like the Minnesota Health Records Act—neither the private attorney general provision nor the Health Care Bill of Rights provide a private right of action to patients for underdisclosure of health records, we affirm.
FACTS
Appellants filed four separate lawsuits against respondent health care providers Essentia Health, Innovis Health, HealthPartners, Regions Hospital, Fairview Health Services, HealthEast Care System, and Allina Health Systems. Appellants alleged that respondents failed to provide full and complete copies of their health records within 30 days of their requests and thereby obstructed appellants’ investigations into whether their medical-malpractice claims were viable.
In April 2021, the supreme court determined that the four pending cases presented almost identical issues and assigned one judge to hear and decide all matters. See In re MHRA Class Action Litig., No. A21-0398 (Minn. Apr. 8, 2021) (order).
In May 2021, respondents moved to dismiss appellants’ claims for failure to state a claim. The district court granted the motion and dismissed each claim with prejudice. It determined that the Health Records Act does not create a private cause of action for appellants’ claims. Nor could appellants’ claims be brought under the private attorney general provision because the Health Records Act was not among the laws subject to private enforcement under that statute. Finally, the court concluded that the Health Care Bill of Rights does not contain a private right of action, relying on this court‘s decision in Favors v. Kneisel, 902 N.W.2d 92 (Minn. App. 2017).
This appeal follows.
ISSUES
I. Does the private attorney general provision of
II. Does the Minnesota Health Care Bill of Rights,
ANALYSIS
The Minnesota Health Records Act regulates the use and disclosure of health records in Minnesota. This act centers on two requirements: health care providers must, with limited exceptions, obtain patient consent for the release of health records, and health care providers generally must supply a patient with their health records within 30 days of a written request.
does not end there. If a provider negligently or intentionally releases a health record, alters a consent form, obtains consent under false pretenses, or accesses patient information without authorization, a patient may recover compensatory damages and attorney fees through a private cause of action.
But not every violation of the Health Records Act provides a patient with a private cause of action. The Health Records Act does not grant a private right of action for underdisclosure of health records. Larson v. Nw. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 855 N.W.2d 293, 301-02 (Minn. 2014). Underdisclosure occurs when a patient receives fewer medical records than requested. Id. at 302.
Recognizing this limitation in the Health Records Act, appellants base their claims on two separate statutes. First, they turn to
Second, appellants turn to the Health Care Bill of Rights, set forth in
In our de novo review of these claims, we turn first to appellants’ argument regarding the private attorney general provision, followed by an examination of whether the Health Care Bill of Rights creates a private right of action. Abel v. Abbott Nw. Hosp., 947 N.W.2d 58, 68 (Minn. 2020) (providing that this court reviews a district court‘s grant of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim de novo). In doing so, we consider only
the facts alleged in the complaint, accept those facts as true, and construe all reasonable inferences in favor of the appellants. Bodah v. Lakeville Motor Express, Inc., 663 N.W.2d 550, 553 (Minn. 2003).
I. The private attorney general provision does not grant a private right of action for underdisclosure of health records under the Health Records Act.
The scope of the private attorney general provision, and whether it encompasses private enforcement of the Health Records Act, is the central question before us. It is a question of first impression—a question that concerns the breadth of the remedies available pursuant to the private attorney general provision.3 There is no doubt that the Minnesota Attorney General wields broad statutory authority to enforce violations of state laws regarding unlawful business practices.
But one provision of the Attorney General Statute goes beyond granting explicit authority to the attorney general. This private attorney general provision provides:
In addition to the remedies otherwise provided by law, any person injured by a violation of the laws referred to in subdivision 1 [of the Attorney General Statute] may bring a civil action and recover damages . . . and receive other equitable relief as determined by the court.
To understand the scope of the private attorney general provision—which turns on private litigants injured by a violation of the laws set forth in subdivision 1—we look to subdivision 1 of the statute. This subdivision enumerates ten specific laws subject to enforcement by the attorney
The attorney general shall investigate violations of the law of this state respecting unfair, discriminatory, and other unlawful practices in business, commerce, or trade, and specifically, but not exclusively, the Nonprofit Corporation Act . . . the Act Against Unfair Discrimination and Competition . . . the Unlawful Trade Practices Act . . . the Antitrust Act . . . and other laws against false or fraudulent advertising, the antidiscrimination acts contained in [Minnesota law], the act against monopolization of food products . . . the act regulating telephone advertising services . . . the Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act . . . and [Minnesota statutes] regulating currency exchanges and assist in the enforcement of those laws as in this section provided.
Reading the separate provisions of the Attorney General Statute together raises the question: what is the scope of the “laws referred to in subdivision 1” for purposes of the private attorney general provision? Appellants argue that the Health Records Act falls within the scope of subdivision 1 because respondents are engaged in business, commerce, or trade; committed unlawful practices by failing to provide appellants’ records under the Health Records Act; and acted unfairly by withholding health records that would allow appellants to decide whether to bring a medical-malpractice claim. Respondents claim that the laws referred to in subdivision 1 are only the laws specially listed—a list that undisputedly does not include the Health Records Act.4 And even if the private attorney general provision reaches beyond the specifically listed laws, respondents argue, it would not encompass the Health Records Act.
This dispute raises a question of statutory interpretation. Statutory interpretation is a question of law which we review de novo. City of Oronoco v. Fitzpatrick Real Est., LLC, 883 N.W.2d 592, 595 (Minn. 2016). The first step in statutory interpretation is to determine whether the statute‘s language is ambiguous. State v. Thonesavanh, 904 N.W.2d 432, 435 (Minn. 2017). A statute is ambiguous if its language is “subject to more than one reasonable interpretation.” Christianson v. Henke, 831 N.W.2d 532, 537 (Minn. 2013). And if a statute is ambiguous, we must discern legislative intent by looking beyond the plain language of the statute. Staab v. Diocese of St. Cloud, 853 N.W.2d 713, 717 (Minn. 2014).
Because we conclude that both parties’ interpretations of this phrase are reasonable, the phrase “laws referred to in subdivision 1” is ambiguous. Still, the answer to one issue related to this phrase is clear. The “laws referred to in subdivision 1” phrase in the private attorney general provision does not limit private enforcement authority to the ten specifically listed laws in subdivision 1. Morris v. Am. Fam. Mut. Ins. Co., 386 N.W.2d 233, 236 (Minn. 1986). Rather, as the supreme court stated, “the list of laws set out in subdivision 1 is not intended to be exclusive.” Id.5 But this
To discern legislative intent, we turn first to legislative history.
The supreme court then summarized the legislative history, explaining that the provision: “advances the legislature‘s intent to prevent fraudulent representations and deceptive practices with regard to consumer products by offering an incentive for defrauded consumers to bring claims in lieu of the attorney general.”6 Id. (emphasis added). This legislative history does not suggest that the Health Records Act would be one of the non-enumerated statutes that may be enforced by private litigants.7
In addition to legislative history that suggests that enforcement under the private attorney general provision centers on matters of fraud, we turn to guidance from two supreme court cases which address discernment of legislative intent in similar situations: Morris v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co. and State by Humphrey v. Philip Morris, Inc.
In Morris, the supreme court addressed whether a policyholder could use the private attorney general provision to assert claims against an insurer for violating the Unfair Claims Practices Act. Morris v. Am. Fam. Mut. Ins. Co., 386 N.W.2d 233, 233 (Minn. 1986). This act was not specifically listed in the private attorney general provision but, as
the court noted, “does deal with unfair business practices.” Id. at 236. In determining whether this act could be enforced through the private attorney general provision, the supreme court first noted that there was no indication that the legislature contemplated inclusion of the Unfair Claims Practices Act. Id. at 238. And this statute, the court emphasized, had an existing enforcement mechanism through the Commissioner of Commerce. Id. at 237 (stating that a separate remedy to punish violations of the Unfair Claims Practices Act “lessened, if not eliminated”
Here, underdisclosure of health records may well implicate an “unfair business practice,” as in Morris. 386 N.W.2d at 236 (citing
and the enforcement provisions in the Health Records Act, we discern no legislative intent for the Health Records Act to be enforced through the private attorney general provision.
Still, appellants argue that the agencies’ enforcement authority is woefully slow and inadequate and will not effectively vindicate the right to obtain health records within 30 days. But it is not the place of this court to create a new remedy when the legislature has already created one. This is particularly true with the Health Records Act—where the legislature authorized a private cause of action for certain rights. But not others.
Given the legislative history, caselaw, and existing statutory remedies in the Health Records Act, we conclude that the private attorney general provision of the Attorney
General Statute does not grant appellants a private right of action for underdisclosure of health records.
II. The Health Care Bill of Rights does not create a private right of action for underdisclosure of health records.
Appellants next argue that the district court erred by determining that
The issue of a private cause of action under the Health Care Bill of Rights is not new. We recently addressed this issue in Favors, 902 N.W.2d at 92. We concluded that the Health Care Bill of Rights grants explicit authority to enforce its provisions only to the Commissioner of Health. Id. at 96; see
To persuade us to revisit our precedent, appellants point to provisions of the Health Care Bill of Rights—not specifically addressed in Favors—which they assert create a private cause of action. And they argue that because Favors dealt with a civilly committed patient, it should be limited to its facts. We address these arguments in turn.
First, appellants assert that language in subdivision 1, entitled “legislative intent,” creates a private right of action. That portion of the statute states:
Any guardian or conservator of a patient or resident or, in the absence of a guardian or conservator, an interested person, may seek enforcement of these rights on behalf of a patient or resident. An interested person may also seek enforcement of these rights on behalf of a patient or resident who has a guardian or conservator through administrative agencies or in district court having jurisdiction over guardianships and conservatorships. Pending the outcome of an enforcement proceeding the health care facility may, in good faith, comply with the instructions of a guardian or conservator.
Focusing on the phrase “an interested person may seek enforcement,” appellants argue that they qualify as “interested persons” who should be able to enforce the provision of the Health Care Bill of Rights related to health care records.10 If not explicit, then the phrase “may seek enforcement” at least implies a private right of action, appellants contend. This implication is furthered, appellants posit, by the statute‘s focus on independent personal decision-making,11 and a reference in the section
orders by the Commissioner that states “[t]he issuance or nonissuance of a correction order shall not preclude, diminish, enlarge, or otherwise alter private action by or on behalf of a patient or resident to enforce any unreasonable violation of the patient‘s or resident‘s rights.”
We disagree. Read in context, the language in the legislative intent provision appellants cite only applies to individuals who are subject to a guardianship or conservatorship.12 Not appellants. With regard to the language embedded in the enforcement provisions, it only acknowledges already-existing rights, such as rights that patients may have under a contract or tort law. Even when read in conjunction with the legislative-intent provision, it falls far short of providing a “clear implication” of legislative intent to provide a private cause of action for appellants’ claims based on the Health Care Bill of Rights.
Nor are we persuaded that our decision in Favors should be limited to apply only to civilly committed residents such as Favors. The Health Care Bill of Rights defines—and applies—to both patients and residents of facilities. And our statutory analysis and examination of legislative intent in that case did not focus on residents, as opposed to patients. Rather, we held:
By providing that the commissioner of health has exclusive authority to enforce the Minnesota Patients’ Bill of Rights and
that the issuance of such a correction order does not expand the patient‘s right to seek redress beyond the grievance procedures set forth in section 144.651, subdivision 20, the legislature demonstrated that it did not intend to create a private cause of action.
Favors, 902 N.W.2d at 96 (emphasis added). After reviewing appellants’ arguments to the contrary, we see no compelling reason to overrule or otherwise limit our decision in Favors. See State ex rel. Pollard v. Roy, 878 N.W.2d 341, 348 (Minn. App. 2016) (stating that we will overrule our own precedent only if provided with a compelling reason to do so), rev. denied (Minn. Dec. 27, 2016).
If the legislature had wanted to create a broad private right of action in the Health Care Bill of Rights, it could have done so. It did not. We recognize, as appellants contend, that the Health Care Bill of Rights creates rights without providing a cause of action to enforce those rights. That is not unique to this statute. Halva v. Minn. State Colls. & Univs., 953 N.W.2d 496, 507 (Minn. 2021).13 Given our reluctance to add provisions to a statute where
DECISION
The private attorney general provision of
Affirmed.
