Avera Health to get day in court against Minnesota insurance company

Avera claims it was abandoned amid onslaught of lawsuits

Avera Health can seek punitive damages against its former insurer after a federal judge declined the insurance company’s motion for summary judgment.

Judge Lawrence Piersol also denied Minnesota-based MMIC’s motion for summary judgment on Avera’s bad faith claim. Piersol’s order, which was released Wednesday, preserves Avera’s claims that MMIC committed deceit and breached its contract and duty to defend.

The sweeping, 69-page order, sets the stage for a trial in which Avera contends MMIC abandoned the health system as well as the Lewis & Clark Specialty Hospital as the two entities faced the prospect of paying tens of millions of dollars in legal claims. Avera and Lewis & Clark sued MMIC after the two paid more than $10 million to settle three dozen lawsuits brought against them.

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