Opinion
SC: 156622 COA: 333360
10-25-2019
W A FOOTE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, d/b/a Allegiance Health, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MICHIGAN ASSIGNED CLAIMS PLAN and Michigan Automobile Insurance Placement Facility, Defendants-Appellees, and John Doe Insurance Company, Defendant.
Order
On October 2, 2019, the Court heard oral argument on the application for leave to appeal the August 31, 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeals. On order of the Court, the application is again considered. MCR 7.305(H)(1). In lieu of granting leave to appeal, we AFFIRM the holding of the Court of Appeals that this Court’s decision in Covenant Med. Ctr., Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. , 500 Mich. 191, 895 N.W.2d 490 (2017), applies retroactively. Nonetheless, we VACATE that part of the judgment of the Court of Appeals stating that this Court’s decision in Spectrum Health Hosps. v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. of Mich. , 492 Mich. 503, 821 N.W.2d 117 (2012), "effectively repudiated" the application of the "threshold question" and "three-factor test" set forth in Pohutski v. City of Allen Park , 465 Mich. 675, 641 N.W.2d 219 (2002), in the context of judicial decisions of statutory interpretation. In concluding that the Court was not setting forth a new law, the Court in Spectrum Health engaged in an analysis that is consistent with the analysis required by Pohutski ’s threshold question. Spectrum Health did not purport to repudiate Pohutski ’s framework, and the Court of Appeals erred by concluding to the contrary. Applying Pohutski to the instant case, because this Court’s decision in Covenant did not clearly establish a new principle of law, Covenant does not satisfy Pohutski ’s threshold question, and the Covenant decision therefore applies retroactively.