Hearing Set for CHW Settlement
A Superior Court judge delayed ruling on a proposed settlement in a class-action lawsuit that accused Catholic Healthcare West of routinely charging uninsured patients up to five times the amount paid by private insurers and the government for the same services, the AP/San Francisco Examiner reports. The settlement would have required CHW to reimburse as many as 800,000 uninsured patients for excessive charges.
CHW officials say the hospital system has changed its billing methods and, under the settlement, agreed to not overcharge the uninsured in the future.
The Latino advocacy group Consejo de Latinos Unidos opposed the settlement, in part because the group says the settlement would exclude many uninsured patients from reimbursements. The group wants the case to go to trial (AP/San Francisco Examiner, 7/24).
Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer set a Sept. 8 hearing to determine how the case should proceed (Srivastava/Downing, Sacramento Bee, 7/25).