Minnesota Court of Appeals extends Swanson v. Brewster collateral-source ruling to cases in which a subrogation interest is asserted, confirming that negotiated discounts are always collateral sources subject to offset under Minn. Stat. § 548.251.

Six years ago, the Minnesota Supreme Court held in Swanson v. Brewster, 784 N.W.2d 264 (Minn. 2010), that negotiated-discount amounts—amounts a plaintiff is billed by a medical provider but does not pay because the plaintiff's health insurance provider negotiates a discount on the plaintiff's behalf—are “collateral sources” for purposes of Minnesota's collateral-source statute, Minn. Stat. § 548.251, and thus subject to offset.  But the Swanson Court did not address what happens to negotiated-discount amounts when a subrogation interest is asserted either by the health insurance provider or an injured plaintiff by assignment.  As a result, plaintiffs have since sought to sidestep Swanson and recover negotiated-discount amounts by purchasing and asserting their health insurers' subrogation rights.  Read more here.