In April, the Florida Supreme Court decided Dial v. Calusa Palms Master Association, a ruling that may upend the collateral source rule and lead to inequitable personal injury results for Medicare recipients, and, in the future, perhaps others. The Dial court ruled that the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Joerg v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, which prohibits evidence of Medicare benefits for calculating future medical expenses, does not apply to past medical expenses.

The amount of past medical expenses presented at trial drastically influences case outcomes because juries tend to consider the extent of past medical expenses when determining amounts for future care and noneconomic harm. As such, should Dial limit plaintiffs to presenting at trial only the amounts paid by Medicare, Medicare recipients will recover significantly less in personal injury cases.