Parties involved in personal injury cases continue to debate whether the jury should consider evidence of healthcare charges paid, versus the higher amounts billed by providers. Over the past several years, our Courts have acknowledge that the proper measure of damages is the necessary and reasonable value of services provided yet preclude any evidence showing the actual costs of the treatment received. Recently, the third division of the Colorado Court of Appeals held the collateral source rule in C.R.S. § 10-1-135(10)(a) and the contract exception set forth in C.R.S. § 13-21-111.6 exclude evidence relating to Medicare benefits. The Court affirmed the District Court rulings that allowed Plaintiff to seek the amounts billed for medical treatment he received after slipping and falling in a Wal-Mart location despite his status as a Medicare beneficiary.
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