Tousignant v. Allstate Ins Co

In Tousignant v. Allstate Ins Co, 444 Mich 301; 506 NW2d 844 (1993), the defendant refused to pay for the medical care provided by a physician and dentist not within the plaintiff's health care coverage, arguing that any necessary services were required to be provided by the plaintiff's health care provider. Id. at 305. The Supreme Court stated: The question presented concerns the liability of a no-fault automobile insurer when the insured purchases a policy of no-fault automobile insurance coordinated with other health coverage. We hold that a no-fault insurer is not subject to liability for medical expense that the insured's health care insurer is required, under its contract, to pay for or provide. Id. at 303. The Court concluded, as a matter of legislative policy, that an insured who elects to coordinate no-fault and health coverage is required "to obtain payment and services from the health insurer to the extent of the health coverage available from the health insurer." Id. at 307. According to Tousignant, to determine if coverage for a given service is available under the health care provider's policy, the terms of the policy must be analyzed: In deciding whether health care was available from HAP the plaintiff's health care insurer/provider, the focus should be on the HAP contract as it is applied in practice. Section 3109a does not require a health insurer to provide particular benefits. The availability of services thus depends on what the contract means as applied in practice, a question of fact as well as of legal construction of a contract document. Tousignant does not contend that HAP would not or could not provide the medical care she needed. Nor is this a case in which it is claimed that the quality of the available care was such that it can be said that the benefit was not available. Where there is no claim that the health insurer would not or could not provide the necessary medical treatment, there is no basis for a finding that the benefits were not available--not "payable" or "required to be provided"--from the health insurer. Id. at 312-313.