Gianetti v. Rutkin

Opinion

BEACH, J.

This case raises the spectre of “balance billing,” a practice by which the health care provider seeks to recover from the patient the difference between the self-determined value of the provider’s services and the amount provided for in the contract between the provider and the health maintenance organization. Although balance billing generally has not been countenanced,1 in this case the physician had no contractual arrangement with the patient’s health insurer. Because of this distinction, we affirm the judgment of the trial court in favor of the health care provider.

The…