HOUSTON - A dispute over a medical bill falls within the scope of a health care liability claim and requires an expert report, according to an opinion issued by the 14th Court of Appeals today.
Court records show Alstonia Louis was transported to a hospital by Liberty County EMS following a motor-vehicle accident. He later received a bill for $1,830.50.
In 2021, Louis filed suit against Liberty County EMS, alleging deceptive-trade practices on the basis that he did not receive “basic-life-support transport,” a charge that was on the bill.
Liberty County EMS answered the suit, asserting both governmental immunity and that Louis’s claim was a health care liability claim subject to Chapter 74 of the Civil Code, which requires an expert report.
Louis amended his petition to add a breach-of-contract claim, and Liberty County EMS filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to the chapter 74, arguing that Louis had not produced the required expert report.
According to the opinion, Louis resisted the motion, maintaining that his claim was not a health-care-liability claim, as it only addressed Liberty County EMS’s alleged fraudulent billing.
The trial court, however, granted Liberty County EMS’s motion to dismiss and rendered a final judgment dismissing Louis’s claims, which led Louis to appeal.
The 14th Court concluded that Louis’s claim was subject to Chapter 74, affirming the trial court’s judgment.
“The resolution of Louis’s challenge to the level of care provided to him and appropriate commensurate billing for those services is not within lay knowledge,” the opinion states. “Therefore, the fact-finder would need expert medical testimony to confirm whether (1) the care received by Louis was “basic-life support” as he was billed for and (2) the amount Louis was charged was appropriate for the services provided.
“[W]e conclude the trial court did not err in determining that Louis brought a healthcare-liability claim and for dismissing the claim due to lack of compliance with the expert-report requirements.”
Appeals case No. 14-22-00671-CV