OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- This release was issued by the firm of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian:
What: Press conference to announce class action lawsuits against Sutter Health on behalf of uninsured patients who have been victims of overcharging and aggressive debt collection practices When: Tuesday, Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. Where: Summit Medical Center, 350 Hawthorne at Webster, Oakland (Bet. B'way and Telegraph)
Plaintiffs in two lawsuits against corporate giant Sutter Health will hold a press conference at Summit Medical Center in Oakland. The two new class action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of patients without health insurance who were grossly overcharged by Sutter and then victimized by "humiliating" and "abusive" debt collection practices. One lawsuit was filed in Alameda County State Superior Court and the other will be filed the morning of Sept. 14 in San Francisco County State Superior Court.
The lawsuits claim that Sutter violated numerous laws by "charging unfair, unreasonable and inflated prices for medical care to its uninsured patients who are generally the least able to pay." The suits also claim that Sutter "pursues aggressive collection techniques that often result in lawsuits, judgments, garnishments and bankruptcies against uninsured patients." The suits seek to require Sutter to make restitution to uninsured patients and for "injunctive relief" to prohibit such practices in the future.
Jef Whitehead, one of the uninsured plaintiff in the San Francisco suit, was admitted into the emergency room at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) and kept in the hospital for 5 days. During his stay, he was not given the opportunity to see a financial counselor, nor given any information about payment options or eligibility for public aid or charity care. He then received a bill for $17,000 and became the target of a harassment campaign by a collection agency that withdrew hundreds of dollars from Mr. Whitehead's bank account without his permission. Crushing medical debt has lead to dire financial hardship for Mr. Whitehead and many others.
The two suits, as well as another similar suit which was filed in federal court against Sutter last month, come as the State Senate approved SB 379 (Ortiz), designed to protect uninsured patients. The bill is now headed to the Governor's desk. Also, the first settlement in history of this type of suit was just reached for $150 million in Mississippi last month.
The lawsuits argue that because Sutter receives hundreds of millions of dollars in tax exemptions each year, it is required to offer affordable care to the uninsured. For example, CPMC received more than $61 million in tax benefits in fiscal year 2002, but spent just slightly more than $1.5 million on charity care during the same period. In all, Sutter spent only 0.6% of its revenues on charity care in 2002, substantially less than the statewide average. Sutter owns 26 hospitals and made $465 million in profits 2003. The lawsuits allege that " ... members of the public ... are likely to be deceived by Sutter's advertising tag line that it is 'Community Based, Not for Profit.' In reality, Sutter is making enormous profits on the backs of the uninsured members of the community."
Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & DardarianCONTACT: Bill Sokol, +1-510-839-6600
Web site: http://www.seiu250.org/
