Court splits on rules governing head injury treatment

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals could not agree with regard to whether the Healing Place, Another Step Forward, and New Start, Inc. could bill Farm Bureau for head injury treatment to Linda Wallace, a legally incapacitated individual. Wallace was a belted, rear-seat passenger in a car when she suffered a closed head injury and fractures of the hip and femur. She was initially in a coma and later suffered from post-traumatic amnesia. She sought treatment at the above facilities, however, they were not licensed as Adult Foster Care entities or as Psychiatric Hospitals. On that basis, the Court of Appeals held that many of the services provided to Wallace were illegal and could not be billed for payment under the no fault statute. One of the three judges would have summarily disallowed payment for any treatment by all of the facilities.