Before Chief Justice Pickering and Justices Hardesty and Saitta. Opinion by Justice Hardesty.
In this case, the Court was called upon to interpret Nevada’s pre-2011 charitable health care statue, NRS 439B.260, which requires hospitals to offer at least a thirty percent discount to patients receiving inpatient care who meet certain criteria. Among the eligibility criteria is a requirement that the patient not have health insurance or “other contractual provision for the payment of the charge by a third party.” Appellant Bielar received treatment for injuries due to a car accident and obtained a $1.3 million settlement from the party responsible for her injuries. Washoe Medical, the health center that provided treatment, sought payment of the full amounts of treatment billed and Bielar challenged, arguing that the amounts billed were unreasonable and she was entitled to a thirty percent discount under NRS 439B.260. In the primary issue on appeal, the Court determined that the settlement agreement did not prevent Bielar from qualifying for the thirty-percent discount, holding that a “patient's eligibility for the 30-percent discount is determined at the time of the rendition of the hospital services and a later agreement with a third-party tortfeasor for claims arising out of such services” would not bar application of the discount. Additionally, the Court held that a settlement agreement is not an agreement for the payment of medical charges under the language of the statute even if a portion of the settlement agreement is designated for medical expenses. The Court noted that the 2011 revisions to NRS 439B.260 were consistent with its interpretation. Having agreed with Bielar on the legal issues, the Court reversed the grant of summary judgment on Bielar’s claims for the discount; however, the Court affirmed the district court’s grant of judgment as a matter of law on Bielar’s claims that the charges were unreasonable, concluding that Bielar failed to carry her burden of proof. Reversed in part and remanded. (Kerry S. Doyle, Associate in the Reno office of McDonald Carano Wilson.)
