Billing Lawsuit Against Scripps Receives Class-Action Status
A San Diego Superior Court judge on Thursday granted class-action status to a lawsuit accusing five Scripps Health hospitals in San Diego of charging uninsured patients up to four times more than insured patients for the same procedures, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
The lawsuit, filed last year, seeks refunds for as many as 100,000 patients who allege they were overcharged by the hospitals since 2002.
The class-action designation by Judge Steven Denton allows the plaintiff's attorneys to represent all the uninsured patients who may have been overcharged.
According to the suit, Scripps billed uninsured patients an average of 412% of Medicare billing rates.
Kelly Dermody, an attorney in the case, says Scripps may owe more than $100 million in refunds.
Scripps spokesperson Don Stanziano said the company "strongly objects" to the accusations (Darcé, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/29).