An orthopedic practice didn’t have standing to sue a group of Liberty Mutual Holding Co. Inc. insurers over a workers compensation insurance coverage denial to patients because a medical code used by the insurers was discontinued prior to the litigation, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The high court overturned a Superior Court ruling awarding summary judgment to First State Orthopaedics, which sued the insurers for denying coverage to its patients. The practice had sought a declaration that a billing code used by the defendants violated the Delaware Workers’ Compensation Law because it didn’t provide a proper coverage denial explanation.
The Supreme Court said the insurers’ alleged failure to correct past medical invoices using the previous billing code couldn’t give the plaintiff standing to sue because the declaratory judgment sought was in effect corrected through the already-amended billing code.
The case is Employers Insurance Company of Wausau v. First State Orthopaedics P.A.