Opinion
NO. 2017 CW 1309
01-05-2018
MARGARET HILLS v. LDH, OFFICE OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
In Re: State of Louisiana, Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Behavioral Health, Eastern Louisiana Mental Health, applying for supervisory writs, Office of Workers' Compensation, District 5, No. 17-02721. BEFORE: McCLENDON, WELCH AND THERIOT, JJ.
WRIT GRANTED. The plain language of Louisiana Revised Statute 23:1209(C) "leads to the inescapable conclusion that when medical benefits have been paid, the time limitation for making additional claims for medical benefits is three years from the last payment of medical benefits." Boquet v. Tetra Technologies, Inc., 2002-1634 (La. 2/25/03), 839 So.2d 13, 17. A "medical benefit" is defined, simply, as "payment for expenses necessary for the treatment of [a] work injury." La. R.S. 23:1203; Kennedy v. Washington / St. Tammany Regional Medical Center, 2015-1099 (La. App. 1st Cir. 4/7/16), 193 So.3d 169, 174-75. The preparation and transmission of a "Medicare Set-Aside" is not treatment and thus, is not a "medical benefit." The last payment of medical benefits in this matter was on September 23, 2013, which fact is not disputed. The claimant filed her disputed claim for compensation on May 2, 2017, more than three years after the last payment of medical benefits, so the claim was prescribed. Further, the running of prescription was not interrupted as no acknowledgment sufficient to interrupt prescription occurred. Therefore, the Exception of Prescription filed by the State of Louisiana, Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Behavioral Health, Eastern Louisiana Mental Health is granted, and the plaintiff's case is dismissed.
PMc
JEW
MRT
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT /s/_________
DEPUTY CLERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT