Under what condition can an offer to pay medical expenses be admitted as evidence?

An offer to pay medical expenses can be admitted as evidence if it is accompanied by an admission of fact. This principle is grounded in evidentiary rules regarding the admissibility of statements made in the context of negotiations, particularly in tort cases. When an offer is made alongside an admission of fact, it can be relevant to proving or disproving certain elements of a legal claim.

The rationale is that if the offer includes an acknowledgment of liability or fault, it might be more probative regarding the issues in the case. However, without such an admission of fact, offers to pay medical expenses might generally be excluded under rules that aim to promote free and open settlement discussions. This encourages parties to negotiate without fear that their offers will be used against them in court.

In this context, the focus is on how an admission of fact can create a different evidentiary scenario compared to a standalone offer of payment, which may not imply any admission of liability or fault by itself.