Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 23STCV15480, Date: 2025-01-29 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV15480    Hearing Date: January 29, 2025    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion for an order instructing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Noridian Healthcare Solutions, LLC, a regional Medicare payment intermediary, to pay all Medicare reimbursements and payments on claims submitted by Judgment Debtor to Judgment Creditor, Creditors Adjustment Bureau, Inc is GRANTED.

            On 7/3/2023, Plaintiff Creditors Adjustment Bureau (Plaintiff) filed suit against Sante Health Partners, LLC aka Sante Health Partners dba Sante Surgery Center adba Sante Surgery Center Los Angeles adba Sante Century City ASC adba Sante Surgery Center Encino adba Sante Encino ASC (Judgment Debtor), Richard Villanueva aka Richard Crus Villanueva aka Richard C. Villanueva, alleging: (1) open book account; (2) account stated; (3) reasonable value; (4) breach of contract; and (5) personal guarantee.

            On 11/142024, Plaintiff moves for an order instructing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Noridian Healthcare Solutions, LLC, a regional Medicare payment intermediary, to pay all Medicare reimbursements and payments on claims submitted by Judgment Debtor to Judgment Creditor, Creditors Adjustment Bureau, Inc.

            The motion is unopposed.

Discussion

Plaintiff is entitled to levy upon any and all Accounts Receivable pursuant to CCP section 680.130. CCP section 708.510 states that the court may order the Judgment Debtor to assign rights to payments due.

42 CFR 424.73(b)(2) provides, "Payment under assignment established by court order. Medicare may pay under an assignment established by, or in accordance with, the order of a court of competent jurisdiction if the assignment meets the conditions set forth in § 424.90."

Court ordered assignments: Conditions and limitations. (a) Conditions for acceptance. An assignment or reassignment established by or in accordance with a court order is effective for Medicare payments only if-(I) Someone files a certified copy of the court order and of the executed assignment or reassignment (if it was necessary to execute one) with the intermediary or carrier responsible for processing the claim; and (2) The assignment or reassignment- (1) Applies to all Medicare benefits payable to a particular person or entity during a specified or indefinite time period.

42 SFR §424.90

            Here, Judgment Debtor has failed make payment toward the default judgment entered on 10/25/2024. Judgment Creditor submitted evidence that Debtor is a corporation engaged in the home health care industry. As a home health care provider, it has been assigned a unique National Provider Identifier (NPI) used for its administrative and financial transactions adopted under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has developed the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) to assign these unique identifiers. A search on the NPI Registry shows NPI 1689335028 registered to the Judgment Debtor. (Brown Decl., ¶ 7.)

Judgment Creditor also submitted a declaration from counsel saying on information and belief that Judgment Debtor has rights to payments of monies that are due or will become due to Judgment from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Noridian Healthcare Solutions, LLC (NHS), a regional Medicare payment intermediary, related to its NPI. (Id. ¶ 8.)

Given Judgment Creditor’s submitted evidence, alongside the lack of opposition, the Court finds the assignment order sought should be granted.

Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion for an order instructing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Noridian Healthcare Solutions, LLC, a regional Medicare payment intermediary, to pay all Medicare reimbursements and payments on claims submitted by Judgment Debtor to Judgment Creditor, Creditors Adjustment Bureau, Inc is granted.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  January    , 2025

   Hon. Jon R. Takasugi
   Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative.  If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar.  For more information, please contact the court clerk at (213) 633-0517.