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Nash v. Allstate Insurance Co.6/26/2002
The five children of a woman who was killed in a car wreck appeal the trial court's order disbursing more than $18,000 out of $25,000 available insurance coverage to satisfy a hospital lien. Because the children made a claim for wrongful death and the decedent's administratrix declined to make a claim on behalf of the estate, we reverse.
After surviving for one day, Winona Crissinger died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile collision caused by Glenda Findley. The hospital bill for services rendered to Crissinger totaled $30,149.25, which was reduced to $18,039.50 due to the decedent's organ donation. Findley had $15,000 liability insurance, and Crissinger had $10,000 underinsured motorist insurance, which was the total amount of coverage available.
Allstate Insurance Company and Shield Insurance Company filed an interpleader action against Crissinger's daughter Penny Nash, individually and as Crissinger's administratrix, the remaining four children individually, and Floyd Healthcare Management, Inc. d/b/a Floyd Medical Center. The insurance companies sought an order allowing them to pay these sums into the court registry, discharging them from liability, and determining the funds' distribution. The parties agreed to a consent order discharging the companies on payment of their limits into the court registry. The hospital and the children stipulated the facts for the judge to determine how to distribute the funds.
The children moved the court to disburse the entire $25,000 to them individually, arguing that the hospital's lien under OCGA § 44-14-470 did not attach. The hospital filed a cross-motion for disbursement, contending it was entitled to payment of its lien from the $25,000 in the registry. The trial court held that, even though Crissinger's administratrix had not asserted a claim for medical payments, such a claim had accrued, and therefore the lien applied against the insurance funds. It ordered the clerk to disburse $18,039.50 to the hospital and the balance to Nash individually and as administratrix.
OCGA § 44-14-470 (b) provides:
Any person, firm, hospital authority, or corporation operating a hospital or nursing home in this state shall have a lien for the reasonable charges for hospital or nursing home care and treatment of an injured person, which lien shall be upon any and all causes of action accruing to the person to whom the care was furnished or to the legal representative of such person on account of injuries giving rise to the causes of action and which necessitated the hospital or nursing home care. . . .
The children argue that, under the plain terms of the statute, the hospital's lien attaches only to causes of action accruing to their mother or their mother's estate, which include those for Crissinger's pain and suffering before her death, her burial expenses, and her hospital expenses. However, the lien does not attach to the children's claim for the wrongful death of their mother, which is not an action "accruing to the person to whom the care was furnished or to the legal representative of such person." Instead, the right to maintain an action for wrongful death belongs to a surviving spouse, or if as in this case there is no spouse, to the decedent's children. OCGA § 51-4-2 (a). Because the estate has not laid claim to the funds and the children have filed a wrongful death suit, they argue, the lien should not be satisfied out of the funds paid into the registry.
The hospital argues that the insurers paid the policy limits into the court to extinguish their liability "on account of Ms. Crissinger's bodily injury, medical expenses, and subsequent death." Multiple causes of action
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