| In the recent case of Wills v. Foster, the Court clarified the effect of the Collateral Source Rule. Under the Collateral Source Rule, benefits received by an injured party from a source wholly independent of and collateral to the tortfeasor will not diminish damages otherwise recoverable from the tortfeasor. In this case, the amount of medical expenses actually paid by Medicaid and Medicare were much less than the amount of medical bills initially presented to the plaintiff as a result of her injury because Medicaid and Medicare paid at a discounted rate. The Illinois Supreme Court interpreted the Collateral Source Rule as allowing the injured party to submit the original amount of medical bills sent by the medical provider. Injured parties should be able to recover the “reasonable value of medical services,” not merely the actual amount paid by Medicaid and Medicare for her injuries.
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