Andrews v. Samaritan Health Sys

Andrews v. Samaritan Health Sys., 201 Ariz. 379, 382,10, 36 P.3d 57, 60 (App. 2001) did not involve services paid by AHCCCS but rather paid pursuant to a private contract between hospitals and the patients' insurers. 201 Ariz. at 381,2-3, 36 P.3d at 59. Those contracts provided that anything paid by the insurers was payment in full, but another provision reserved the right of the provider to recapture from a third party the difference between its customary charges and what the insurer had paid the hospital. Id. at3. The question presented was whether the recapture liens enforced against any tortfeasor recovery and from the tortfeasors' insurers were permitted. Id. at 381-82,6-7, 36 P.3d at 59-60. The Court reasoned that the reservations showed the right to be reimbursed for customary charges and that the liens were enforceable against any settlements even though there was no personal recourse by the providers against the patients. Id. at 383,14, 36 P.3d at 61. While the court analogized to hospitals being able to enforce liens on settlements for AHCCCS payments, it did not cite to the AHCCCS statute or regulation involved and did not address preemption. Id. at 383-84,17, 36 P.3d at 61-62.