Minnesota Statutes

Minn. Stat. § 548.251 (2026)

Collateral Source Calculations

✓ current as of May 2026

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Subdivision 1.Definition.

For purposes of this section, "collateral sources" means payments related to the injury or disability in question made to the plaintiff, or on the plaintiff's behalf up to the date of the verdict, by or pursuant to:

(1) a federal, state, or local income disability or Workers' Compensation Act; or other public program providing medical expenses, disability payments, or similar benefits;

(2) health, accident and sickness, or automobile accident insurance or liability insurance that provides health benefits or income disability coverage; except life insurance benefits available to the plaintiff, whether purchased by the plaintiff or provided by others, payments made pursuant to the United States Social Security Act, or pension payments;

(3) a contract or agreement of a group, organization, partnership, or corporation to provide, pay for, or reimburse the costs of hospital, medical, dental or other health care services; or

(4) a contractual or voluntary wage continuation plan provided by employers or any other system intended to provide wages during a period of disability, except benefits received from a private disability insurance policy where the premiums were wholly paid for by the plaintiff.

[See Note.]

Subd. 2.Motion.

In a civil action, whether based on contract or tort, when liability is admitted or is determined by the trier of fact, and when damages include an award to compensate the plaintiff for losses available to the date of the verdict by collateral sources, a party may file a motion within ten days of the date of entry of the verdict requesting determination of collateral sources. If the motion is filed, the parties shall submit written evidence of, and the court shall determine:

(1) amounts of collateral sources that have been paid for the benefit of the plaintiff or are otherwise available to the plaintiff as a result of losses except those for which a subrogation right has been asserted; and

(2) amounts that have been paid, contributed, or forfeited by, or on behalf of, the plaintiff or members of the plaintiff's immediate family for the two-year period immediately before the accrual of the action and until judgment is entered to secure the right to a collateral source benefit that the plaintiff is receiving as a result of losses.

Subd. 3.Duties of the court.

(a) The court shall reduce the award by the amounts determined under subdivision 2, clause (1), and offset any reduction in the award by the amounts determined under subdivision 2, clause (2).

(b) If the court cannot determine the amounts specified in paragraph (a) from the written evidence submitted, the court may within ten days request additional written evidence or schedule a conference with the parties to obtain further evidence.

(c) In any case where the claimant is found to be at fault under section 604.01, the reduction required under paragraph (a) must be made before the claimant's damages are reduced under section 604.01, subdivision 1.

Subd. 4.Calculation of attorney fees.

If the fees for legal services provided to the plaintiff are based on a percentage of the amount of money awarded to the plaintiff, the percentage must be based on the amount of the award as adjusted under subdivision 3. Any subrogated provider of a collateral source not separately represented by counsel shall pay the same percentage of attorney fees as paid by the plaintiff and shall pay its proportionate share of the costs.

Subd. 5.Jury not informed of collateral sources.

The jury shall not be informed of the existence of collateral sources or any future benefits which may or may not be payable to the plaintiff.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 25 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2009–2025 · leading case: Swanson v. Brewster, 784 N.W.2d 264 (Minn. 2010).

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Swanson v. Brewster, 784 N.W.2d 264 (Minn. 2010). · cites it 222× “In accordance with Minnesota's collateral-source statute, Minn.Stat. § 548.251 (2008), [1] the Hennepin County District Court reduced Swanson's award, in part, by the amount Swanson's medical insurer, HealthPartners, paid to Swanson's medical providers.”

Do v. Am. Fam. Mut. Ins. Co., 779 N.W.2d 853 (Minn. 2010). · cites it 64× “Following a jury verdict awarding Do damages from American Family, the district court reduced the award, concluding that a settlement payment *855 Do received from the at-fault driver's automobile insurer is a "collateral source" that should be deducted from the jury award under…”

Graff v. Robert M. Swendra Agency, Inc., 800 N.W.2d 112 (Minn. 2011). · cites it 36× “Pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 548.251 (2010), the collateral source statute, the district court reduced the damages award by a total of $200,260, which included the proceeds from two workers’ compensation settlements, but did not include the attorney fees paid by Graff in obtaining…”

Renswick v. Wenzel, 819 N.W.2d 198 (Minn. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 13× “Minn.Stat. § 548.251, subd. 1(2). Wenzel contends that we must reverse, urging that Medicare is essentially an insurance program and that Renswick’s damages award must be reduced by her benefits under that program in the form of payments made by Medicare covering her medical…”

Steven Duane Auers, personally, & as Tr. for the next of kin of Karen Auers v. Progressive Direct Ins. Co., 878 N.W.2d 350 (Minn. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 33× “On appeal from a grant of' summary judgment in favor of respondent Steven Duane Auers in his capacity as trustee, appellant Progressive Direct Insurance Company argues that the district court erred in determining that a negotiated discount is not a collateral source subject to…”

Getz v. Peace, 918 N.W.2d 233 (Minn. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 22× “payments following a jury's award of damages, appellant Ambree Getz argues that the district court erred when it deducted from the jury award the amount of the discounts negotiated under Minnesota's Prepaid Medical Assistance Program (PMAP), which she asserts are collateral…”

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Angela Mary Lennartson, Katie Foss, 872 N.W.2d 524 (Minn. 2015). · cites it 3× “§ 548.251 (2014));5 Stout, 645 N.W.2d at 112-13 (holding that a no-fault insurer cannot reduce its obligation to pay basic-economic-loss benefits on the ground that the injured person’s health insurer negotiated discounts with the health care providers, in part because no…”

Graff v. Robert M. Swendra Agency, Inc., 776 N.W.2d 744 (Minn. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 11× “Workers’ Compensation Settlements as Collateral-Source Offsets Graffs appeal raises the issue of whether the district court improperly calculated and deducted from the jury’s negligence award the lump-sum workers’ compensation settlements as collateral sources.”

John Wilbur v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 880 N.W.2d 874 (Minn. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 2× “After trial, State Farm moved to reduce the verdict for collateral source payments pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 548.251 (2014). After reducing the verdict for the $100,000 payment from the at-fault driver’s insurer and other collateral source payments, the district court determined…”

Kaplan v. Mayo Clinic, 653 F.3d 720 (8th Cir. 2011). “They assert that the file included 54 documents that referred to insurance and were therefore inadmissible under Minn.Stat. § 548.251, which prohibits informing the jury “of the existence of collateral sources or any future benefits which may or may not be payable to the…”

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., (A14-132), (A14-224) v. Angela Mary Lennartson, (A14-132), Katie Foss, (A14-224)., 857 N.W.2d 713 (Minn. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 4× “See Minn.Stat. § 548.251 (2012). The collateral source offset statute sets out a procedure in which a party in a civil action can request the court to determine and deduct collateral sources from the liability verdict.”

Creekwood Rental Town-Homes, LLC v. Kiln Underwriting Ltd., 11 F. Supp. 3d 909 (D. Minnesota 2014). · cites it 2× “1982), superseded by statute, Minn.Stat. § 548.251, as recognized in Swanson v.”

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