The plaintiff was struck by a motor vehicle as a pedestrian. He received Statutory Accident Benefits (SABs) from his no-fault insurer and also brought a tort action for damages against the driver of the vehicle that struck him and the individual who pushed him into the vehicle’s path. At trial, the jury awarded the plaintiff damages in excess of $2.3 million, including $700,000 for future care costs of an ABI support worker, which related to medical/rehabilitation benefits and not attendant care benefits. On a post-trial motion, the plaintiff argued that an “apples to apples” approach should be applied, and that only the SABs settlement for medical/rehabilitation benefits ($250,000) (and not the portion of SABs payments related to attendant care ($350,000)) should be deducted from the future care costs award. The moving defendant argued that both medical/rehabilitation and attendant care benefits are captured within the silo of healthcare expenses, and are both properly deductible from the jury’s award for future care costs. The trial court accepted the defendant’s “silo” approach, holding that SABs deductibility under s. 267.8(4) of the Insurance Act should be interpreted by applying the definition of “health care” under s. 224(1), which includes payment provided by medical, rehabilitation, and attendant care benefits under the SABs. The five-judge panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the trial judge’s decision.
