OPINION MAASSEN , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION A woman was seriously injured when she slipped and fell on ice in a hotel parking lot. Medicare covered her medical expenses, settling the providers' bills by paying less than one-fifth of the amounts billed. When the woman later sued the hotel for negligence, the hotel sought to bar her from introducing her original medical bills as evidence of her damages, arguing that only the amount Medicare actually paid was relevant and admissible. The...
OPINION BOLGER , Chief Justice . I. INTRODUCTION A divorced mother had sole legal and physical custody of her two daughters. Their father sought a protective order against the mother and a modification of custody after she repeatedly hit the older daughter with a belt. The superior court found that the mother's actions did not trigger the presumption against custody under AS 25.24.150(g). It ordered that she retain legal and physical custody, subject only to a limited protective order,...
OPINION BOLGER , Chief Justice . I. INTRODUCTION Maxim Healthcare Services and its Alaska office manager, Alaina Adkins, made misrepresentations while discharging Jesse Collens from Maxim's care, in violation of the company's own policies and procedures. Collens sued them for breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, unfair and deceptive acts and practices under Alaska's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act (UTPA), 1 and intentional infliction of emotional distress (...
OPINION MAASSEN , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION The parties entered into a construction subcontract that contained a broad dispute resolution provision. When disputes arose, the parties engaged in mediation as their subcontract required, reaching a settlement agreement by which they each "absolutely release[d] the other of and from any and all claims, demands and obligations of any kind arising from [the subcontract]." The settlement agreement, unlike the subcontract, contained no dispute...
OPINION WINFREE , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION Homeowners had trees removed from a municipal right-of-way across the road from their home, only obtaining a required permit several months later. Neighbors, whose property abutted the right-of-way and whose house had been behind the removed trees, sued the homeowners and the tree-removal company for damages. 1 The superior court granted summary judgment to the homeowners and the tree-removal company, concluding that the municipality's...
OPINION CARNEY , Justice . I. INTRODUCTION We are again called upon to determine whether restrictions placed upon Alaska's Medicaid funding of abortions violate the Alaska Constitution. A 2014 statute and 2013 regulation re-define which abortions qualify as "medically necessary" for the purposes of Medicaid funding. The statute defines medically necessary abortions as those that "must be performed to avoid a threat of serious risk to the life or physical health of a woman from...
