Name

Cordeiro v. Gifford's Famous Ice Cream

Insurance Company

Acadia Insurance Company

Date Decided

July 28, 2020

Panel Members

Timothy Collier

David Hirtle

Mike Stovall

Categories

Procedure Statutory Construction Procedure Statutory Construction

Tags

Back MaineCare §209-A(7) Attorney Fee Medical Costs

File Size

221 KB

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Summary from the Troubh Heisler Attorneys

Mr. Cordeiro injured his back at Gifford’s and filed a petition for payment of medical bills including those already paid by MaineCare. Judge Elwin granted the petition, and Attorney Libner asked her to order Acadia to withhold 30% as his fee for pursuing the petition. Judge Elwin granted his request as to the bills paid by other insurers but denied his request on the MaineCare payments, because §209-A(7) expressly requires that MaineCare be reimbursed 100% of their treatment costs for work injuries.

Mr. Cordeiro appealed on a variety of novel legal theories, but the Appellate Division upheld Judge Elwin’s decision. It appears that even MaineCare bills could be subject to the attorney’s 30% fee, if MaineCare agreed in advance to pay them as collection costs. Given the problem of attorney’s fees on medical bills, we expect similar claims in the future.

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