MISSISSIPPI Hospital takes steps to avoid lawsuits

Refunds and discounts will be provided to uninsured patients.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A Mississippi hospital system has agreed to provide free care to the poor and refund money to the uninsured to avoid becoming one of dozens of nonprofit health-care systems sued over their billing and charity care practices.
Hospitals around the country have been accused of forcing uninsured patients to pay far more than they charge for services given to insured patients. Three such complaints were filed Thursday against hospital chains in Florida, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
Free care
Tupelo-based North Mississippi Medical Center has agreed to provide free care to patients who make up to twice the income outlined in the federal poverty level guidelines, said Richard Scruggs, a Mississippi attorney who has sued 40 hospital systems in 21 states over the issue. A family of four, for instance, would be eligible if it earned less than $36,000 a year.
Uninsured patients who make between two and four times the federal rate will receive a discount off the Medicare rate for procedures. Uninsured patients who paid for services over the last three years will be eligible for refunds.
Scruggs estimates that the hospital will pay out up to $150 million for those refunds as well as giving charity care for the next seven years.
The settlement is subject to federal court approval.
John Heer, CEO of North Mississippi Health Services, said in a statement that the organization settled because "getting tangled up in a lawsuit would distract our attention away from those issues."
"After reviewing the proposed settlement, there seemed to be little reason to pursue lengthy litigation of the issues since the proposed discounts were very reasonable," Heer said.
Similar lawsuits
Also Thursday, Alabama attorney Archie Lamb filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against Health Management Associates Inc., alleging the Naples, Fla.-based company charged uninsured patients more than those with insurance.
At a Miami news conference Lamb also outlined two other similar suits, filed Thursday in Las Vegas, against Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Inc. and King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Systems.
The lawsuit against Health Management Associates seeks class-action status and was filed on behalf of Jose Manuel Quintana. It claims HMA charged the Miami truck driver $3,090 for a three-hour visit that it would have charged about $900 for had Quintana been insured.
HMA spokesman John Merriwether said he had not yet seen the lawsuit, but noted that Quintana ultimately paid his bill with a significant discount from the hospital. He declined to disclose the amount.
HCA spokesman Jeff Prescott said he has not yet seen details of the Nevada lawsuit, but noted that the company currently has a discount program for the uninsured and is implementing a new program that would make rates more equitable. HCA is the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain, operating in 23 states.
Universal Health did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.