Uninsured sue nonprofit hospitals

Thursday, June 17, 2004 | 11:04 a.m.

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

A group of plaintiffs' lawyers filed civil lawsuits against more than a dozen nonprofit hospitals in eight states Wednesday, claiming the hospitals violated their obligation as charities by overcharging people without insurance and then hounding them for the money.

The complaints name some of the largest hospitals in the Chicago, Atlanta and Minneapolis metropolitan areas and allege that the hospitals violated agreements to provide charity care in exchange for tax exemptions, leaving uninsured patients with full price bills.

The suits are "baseless and misdirected," said Alicia Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the American Hospital Association, the national trade association for nonprofit hospitals. "It will consume already limited health care resources that hospitals need to continue their daily work of caring for the uninsured and all other patients in their communities."

More lawsuits are expected to be filed, Mississippi lawyer Don Barrett said. "It is part of a coordinated attack on this reprehensible practice," said Barrett, who is involved in the cases.

No lawsuits have been filed in Nevada against San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West, which operates St. Rose Dominican Hospital -- Siena Campus and St. Rose Dominican Hospital -- Rose de Lima Campus.

Barrett declined to comment on Catholic Healthcare West but cautioned that the Henderson hospitals could have lawsuits filed against them if they operate anything like the hospitals in other parts of the country with pending litigation.

"Every not-for-profit hospital we have looked at in the country has exactly the same business plan," Barrett said. "If they're like the rest of them they can get ready because we're coming."

Catholic Healthcare West announced earlier this month a new policy that lessened the income requirements to receive charity care at its 43 hospitals. The new policy takes effect Jan. 1 and allows patients who earn between $56,550 and $94,250 per year for a family of four to receive the average rate paid by insurers.

Barrett said he and his colleagues have received numerous calls from patients across the country who say they encountered situations similar to what the plaintiffs allege.

"They're supposedly charitable and religious organizations that are anything but that," Barrett said.

Clark County-owned University Medical Center will not likely be sued by Barrett or his colleagues because government-owned hospitals present a different set of issues, Barrett said.