Christopher R. Brown v. Decatur Cty Hosp.

892 N.E.2d 642

CHRISTOPHER R. BROWN, D.D.S., INC., Appellant (Plaintiff below), v. DECATUR COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, Appellee (Defendant below).

No. 93S02-0711-EX-561.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

August 27, 2008.

C. Richard Marshall, Columbus, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Donald S. Smith, Cheryl D. Finchum, Riley Bennett & Egloff, LLP, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

On Petition To Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 93A02-0703-EX-236.

RUCKER, Justice.

In this opinion we explore whether the Worker's Compensation Board may award interest on worker's compensation benefits including past due medical bills. We conclude that in the absence of express statutory authority it may not do so.

Facts and Procedural History

On April 26, 2001, while employed by Decatur County Memorial Hospital and attending a work related seminar, Dorine Trimnell was involved in an automobile collision with a hit-and-run driver. As a consequence Trimnell suffered multiple bodily injuries including injuries to her face, head, and neck. The following day Trimnell notified her employer of the collision. As required by statute, Hospital's worker's compensation insurance carrier, American Physicians Capital, Inc. ("Insurer"), provided Trimnell several medical specialists, including Christopher R. Brown, D.D.S., Inc. ("Dr.Brown"). See Ind.Code § 22-3-3-4(a) ("After an injury and prior to an adjudication of permanent impairment, the employer shall furnish or cause to be furnished, free of charge to the employee, an attending physician for the treatment of his injuries, and in addition thereto such surgical, hospital and nursing services and supplies as the attending physician or the worker's compensation board may deem necessary.").¹

On numerous occasions Dr. Brown billed Insurer for services rendered to Trimnell. Insurer periodically paid portions of the bill. On October 15, 2002, contending he was owed $10,597.49 for unpaid services rendered, Dr. Brown filed an Application for Adjustment of Claim for Provider Fee. Insurer continued to make periodic partial payments, and thereafter on November 17, 2004, Dr. Brown filed an Amended Application contending the unpaid balance had increased to $17,292.88. He also filed a motion requesting interest of eight percent (8%) per annum on "each of his 2001-2004 billings" that were "either not paid in full or which were only partially paid...." App. at 42.

On December 6, 2004, the scheduled date for hearing on the Amended Application, Insurer paid Dr. Brown $14,230. The hearing was continued, and thereafter Insurer paid Dr. Brown $700 and $125 in March and September 2005 respectively. On October 5, 2005, the parties filed, and a single hearing member of the Board approved, a joint stipulated agreement. Among other things, acknowledging that a "dispute arose as to the amount of [Dr. Brown's] bills," the parties agreed that Hospital and Insurer would pay Dr. Brown $1,256.32 representing "all outstanding expenses for care rendered by [Dr. Brown] to Dorine Trimnell as a result of her accident." App. at 51-52. The parties also agreed that Dr. Brown reserved his claim for payment of interest, and the Board would resolve in the future whether Dr. Brown was entitled to interest. Within two weeks the agreed upon amount was paid in full, bringing the account balance to zero.

On July 12, 2006, a hearing was held before a single hearing member of the Board. The sole issue presented was whether Dr. Brown was entitled to pre-judgment interest. The hearing member ruled in favor of Dr. Brown:

After initially disputing Dr. Brown's claim for services rendered in treating Trimnell's [injuries], the Hospital has agreed to pay the bill. However, Dr. Brown has requested interest on the outstanding balance. The parties have presented argument.

Although the workers compensation statute provides for review of provider claims with a view of holding the employer responsible for comparable services in the geographic area where the injury occurred and where the services were provided, the Act does not address interest on amounts due for such services. There is no specific prohibition against interest. The interest issue is generally raised in relation to workers compensation benefits. There is a split of authority on that point with two Indiana Court of Appeals cases addressing the issue and reaching opposite conclusions.

Finding no prohibition in the Act, Dr. Brown and his corporate entity are entitled to interest according to the usual commercial law and statutory provisions for service accounts.

App. at 83. Hospital sought review before the full Board, which reversed the single hearing member's decision by a vote of four to three. Dr. Brown appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the full Board's decision. See Christopher R. Brown, DDS, Inc. v. Decatur County Mem'l Hosp., 873 N.E.2d 69 (Ind.Ct.App. 2007). Having previously granted transfer, we also affirm the full Board's decision.

Standard of Review

In reviewing a worker's compensation decision, an appellate court is bound by the factual determinations of the Board and may not disturb them unless the evidence is undisputed and leads inescapably to a contrary conclusion. Eads v. Perry Twp. Fire Dep't, 817 N.E.2d 263, 265 (Ind. Ct.App.2004); Kovatch v. A.M. Gen., 679 N.E.2d 940, 942 (Ind.Ct.App.1997). We examine the record only to determine whether there are any substantial evidence and reasonable inferences that can be drawn therefrom to support the Board's findings and conclusion. Perez v. U.S. Steel Corp., 428 N.E.2d 212, 216 (Ind. 1981). As to the Board's interpretation of the law, an appellate court employs a deferential standard of review to the interpretation of a statute by an administrative agency charged with its enforcement in light of its expertise in the given area. Natural Res. Comm'n v. Porter County Drainage Bd., 576 N.E.2d 587, 589 (Ind. 1991). The Board will only be reversed if it incorrectly interpreted the Worker's Compensation Act. Duvall v. ICI Americas, Inc., 621 N.E.2d 1122, 1124 (Ind.Ct. App.1993).

Discussion

I.

To support his argument for an award of interest, Dr. Brown directs our attention to Indiana statutory and case authority standing for the proposition that once the amount of damage is readily ascertainable as of a particular time a claimant can only be fully compensated by the payment of interest. Br. of Appellant at 7-8 (citing, among others, I.C. §§ 24-4.6-1-101, 104; Stephens v. Parkview Hosp., Inc., 745 N.E.2d 262, 266-67 (Ind.Ct.App. 2001); 17 I.L.E. Interest and Usury § 1, at 5 (2003)).

Indiana law has long recognized the time value of money and has acknowledged that in order to achieve full compensation for the loss of use of property a claimant has the right to be paid pre-judgment interest on sums owed that are belatedly paid. 17 I.L.E. Interest and Usury § 1, at 5 (citing cases). Indiana law also provides for the collection of interest upon sums due from a patient for unpaid hospital bills. See I.C. § 24-4.6-1-101, 103; I.C. § 32-33-4-1; Stephens, 745 N.E.2d at 266-67 (awarding pre-judgment interest on hospital lien arising from medical services provided for personal injury); accord Washington County Mem'l Hosp v. Hattabaugh, 717 N.E.2d 929, 933-34 (Ind.Ct.App.1999).

But these authorities fall outside of Indiana's Worker's Compensation Act, which is silent on the question of whether interest may be awarded on past due benefits. Where the matter has been addressed in other jurisdictions having worker's compensation statutes, the decisions have been varied. Some courts have held that no interest is assessable on deferred payments in the absence of express statutory authority.² See, e.g., Weaver v. State Indus. Ins. Sys., 104 Nev. 305, 756 P.2d 1195, 1195-96 (Nev.1988) (per curiam) ("Although the legislature was aware that workers' compensation claims would often be litigated, and indeed provided the mechanism for judicial review of the decisions of the legislatively created agency which administers the workers' compensation statutes, the legislature did not provide that interest on delayed workers' compensation awards should be allowed."); Sanchez v. Molycorp, Inc., 103 N.M. 148, 703 P.2d 925, 931 (Ct.App.1985) ("Since workmen's compensation proceedings are statutory remedies, no common law right to prejudgment interest exists."); Haret v. State Accident Ins. Fund Corp., 72 Or. App. 668, 697 P.2d 201, 204 (1985) (in banc) (Interest not available because "Workers' Compensation is strictly a creature of statute, replacing a worker's common law remedies for job-related injuries.... The act is a complete statement of the rights of workers to compensation for injuries covered thereby.").

Courts in other jurisdictions have awarded interest relying on their state's general interest statutes. See, e.g., Land & Marine Rental Co. v. Rawls, 686 P.2d 1187, 1191-92 (Alaska 1984) (applying the state's general interest statute in the absence of a specific statute authorizing interest upon workers' compensation awards in keeping with the spirit of the workers' compensation law); McCormack v. Stewart Enters., Inc., 956 S.W.2d 310, 313 (Mo.Ct. App.1997) (looking to the general interest statutes because no section of the Workers' Compensation Act addressed the issue of interest on medical expenses). But even in jurisdictions that allow interest in the absence of express legislative authority under the worker's compensation statute, there is no consensus on whether doing so applies equally to pre-judgment as well as post-judgment interest. Compare Ex parte Stanton, 545 So.2d 58, 59 (Ala.1989) (denying an award for pre-judgment interest because it would be part of a claimant's "rights and remedies" governed exclusively by the Act, which is silent on the matter but stating, "[P]ost-judgment interest ... should apply to a workmen's compensation award.") with Lopez v. Smith's Mgmt. Corp., 106 N.M. 416, 744 P.2d 544,...