Government
Court tosses out one of the lawsuits against nonprofit hospitals
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 15, 2004
A federal court in October dismissed one of the proposed class-action lawsuits challenging the way nonprofit hospitals bill uninsured patients.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled that a case against Baptist Health System and the American Hospital Assn. could not go forward in federal court because the bills were part of earlier state court settlements under which patients are paying the hospital for the care they received.
The federal court would have been relying on the same evidence the state court considered to establish both the patients' debts and their obligations, the ruling stated.
The federal court also dismissed part of the lawsuit that related to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, because there were no claims presented to indicate that the plaintiffs didn't receive the appropriate care.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/11/15/gvbf1115.htm.
