Catholic Healthcare West, that has 40 hospitals in California, Nevada and Arizona, has agreed to reimburse approximately 800,000 uninsured patients for excessive charges. This will settle a class action lawsuit that the hospital group faced, claiming that uninsured patients were routinely charged up to five times the amount paid by insurers or government programs for the same services.
The settlement amount is expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars. The settlement also allows the patients to be compensated in medical care.
Catholic Healthcare West spokeswoman Tricia Griffin said the company had altered its billing methods in 2004 and agreed as part of the settlement never to overcharge the uninsured.
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