Ferlazzo v. 18th Avenue Hardware, Inc.
Plaintiff Marie Ferlazzo moved to extinguish liens and subrogation rights asserted by Oxford Health Plan and The Rawlings Company, LLC against her personal injury settlement proceeds. Oxford, administering a Medicare Advantage plan, sought reimbursement for medical expenses. Ferlazzo contended that General Obligations Law § 5-335 (a) barred such claims as Oxford lacked a statutory right of reimbursement. The court examined the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and the Medicare Advantage Program, concluding that unlike Medicare, private Medicare Advantage insurers only have contractual, not statutory, rights to reimbursement. Citing federal precedents, the court ruled that Oxford's claim was subject to state law and not entitled to recovery from the settlement. Consequently, the court granted Ferlazzo's motion to extinguish the liens and subrogation rights.