Medical bills recoverable in an automobile accident case include all medical, hospital, and related expenses, which the collision was a substantial factor in causing. The damages may cover past expenses, meaning those expenses incurred from the date of the injury to the date of the trial, and future expenses, those expenses that will be incurred after the date of the trial. To be recoverable, the expenses must be reasonably and necessarily incurred in the treatment of the injury that is the result of the MVA. Musa v. Jefferson Cnty. Bank, 2001 WI 2, ¶ 19, 240 Wis. 2d 327 , 620 N.W.2d 797. Until recently, establishing the reasonableness and necessity of medical expenses has required expert medical testimony from a doctor. On July 1, 2009, the Wisconsin Legislature created section 908.03(6m)(bm), which states:
Presumption. Billing statements or invoices that are patient health care records are presumed to state the reasonable value of the health care services provided and the health care services provided are presumed to be reasonable and necessary to the care of the patient. Any party attempting to rebut the presumption of the reasonable value of the health care services provided may not present evidence of payments made or benefits conferred by collateral sources.
Section 908.03(6m)(bm) provides that billing statements or invoices that are patient health-care records are presumed to state the reasonable value of the services rendered, and that the health-care services provided are presumed to be reasonable and necessary to the care of the patient. A defendant may rebut the presumption in section 908.03(6m)(bm) through expert testimony. The law provides that the party challenging the value or reasonableness of the plaintiff’s past health-care expenses has the burden to prove they were not reasonable in amount or reasonably and necessarily incurred to care for the plaintiff. Unless the jury is satisfied by the greater weight of the credible evidence that the expenses were unreasonable or were not reasonably and necessarily incurred, the jury must find the past health-care expenses to be reasonable and necessary. The amounts reflected in the medical bills may be submitted to the jury as evidence of the reasonableness of the charges and the reasonableness and necessity of such treatment.
The presumptions in section 908.03(6m)(bm) do not, however, change the plaintiff’s obligation to provide medical testimony or medical records to prove that the tortfeasor’s conduct caused the plaintiff’s injuries. The injured party must still prove, probably by expert medical doctor opinion, that the accident caused the injury. That is, that the accident was a substantial factor in causing the injuries.
McCormick Law Office attorneys in Milwaukee, Wisconsin use the law to prove up medical bills cause by automobile collisions.
