Acupuncture Care, PC. v State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
2026 NY Slip Op 50991(U) [89 Misc 3d 1218(A)]
June 11, 2026
Civil Court of the City of New York, Richmond County
Javier Ortiz, J.
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law � 431.
This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.
Acupuncture Care, PC. A/A/O ROSSI, ALBERT, Plaintiff,
v
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Defendant.
Civil Court of the City of New York, Richmond County
Decided on June 11, 2026
Index No. CV-769317-24/RI
For Plaintiff Acupuncture Care, PC:
Law Offices of Anna Goldman, PC
586 Midland Avenue Suite 2-B
Staten Island, New York 10306
718-307-5666
Appearing of counsel Marvin Ben Aaron mbaesqsiny@aol.com
For Defendant State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co.:
Nicole McErlean
Freiberg Peck & Kang LLP
200 Business Park Drive Suite 200
Armonk, New York 10504
212-252-9550
Nmcerlean@fplawfirm.com
Javier Ortiz, J.
[*1]Recitation, as required by CPLR �2219(a), of the papers considered in the review of this Motion:
D's Motion & Supporting Docs 8-16
P's Affirmation in Opposition 18
D's Affirmation in Reply 19
Upon the foregoing cited papers, the Decision/Order on Defendant's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART for the reasons discussed as follows:
The coder affirmation of Mercy Acuna, RN, BSN, CPC (NYSCEF No. 14) indicates that an additional $65.60 is owed to Plaintiff as follows: (1) $26.24 for dates of service 03/18/24-03/27/24 ($186.18 found to be owing pursuant to coder affirmation, but only $159.94 paid per the denial); (2) $26.24 for dates of service 04/01/24-04/11/24 ($81.30 found to be owing pursuant to coder affirmation, but only $55.06 paid per the denial); and (3) $13.12 for dates of [*2]service 05/08/24-05/16/24 ($40.65 found to be owing pursuant to coder affirmation, but only $27.53 paid per the denial).FN1
While Plaintiff submitted a rebuttal affirmation of its billing and collections specialist (see NYSCEF No. 18), the Court finds that affirmation does not adequately rebut the relevant points made in Ms. Acuna's thorough 27-page discussion of the application of the fee schedule to the bills at issue here.
As such, Plaintiff is granted judgment for $65.60 plus interest, attorney's fees, and filing fees. The Complaint is otherwise dismissed. All trial dates are hereby vacated.
This constitutes the Decision and Order of the Court.
DATED: June 11, 2026
Hon. Javier Ortiz, J.C.C.
Kings County Civil Court
Footnotes
Ms. Acuna also found that Defendant only should have paid $152.26 for dates of service March 1-13, 2024, even though Defendant's denial indicated that it would pay Plaintiff $175.66. Additionally, for dates of service April 16-May 1, 2024, Ms. Acuna found that Defendant only should have paid $73.36 even though the denial indicated a payment of $103.75. The Court nonetheless finds that the total $53.79 of alleged overpayments for March 1-13, 2024 (equaling $23.40) and April 16-May 1, 2024 (equaling $30.39) cannot be used to reduce the overall amounts owed by Defendant here because Defendant did not assert a counterclaim in its answer seeking reimbursement for any alleged overpayments. (Cf Nova Acupuncture, P.C. v Mercury Cas. Co., 48 Misc 3d 127(A), 2015 NY Slip Op 50914(U) [App Term, 2d Dept 2015] [defendant asserted counterclaim to seek reimbursement of overpayments]; Cornell Med., P.C. v Mercury Cas. Co., 24 Misc 3d 58, 2009 NY Slip Op 29228) [App Term, 2d Dept 2009] [defendant sought to amend its answer to include counterclaim to seek reimbursement of overpayments].)