Alameda Times-Star, "Sutter Health accused of overcharging"

          An uninsured Berkeley man is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday against Sutter Health that alleges the hospital system overcharges the uninsured. The suit contends that nonprofit Sutter Health, with hospitals across Northern California, has breached its obligation to provide charitable care to the uninsured -- a condition of its tax-exempt status. The complaint also alleges that Sutter Health aggressively pursues uninsured patients to collect fees, such as taking legal action that results in garnished wages and bankruptcies.
          Kelly Dermody, a partner at San Francisco law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein, which brought the suit, said there are as many as "tens of thousands" of patients who have been subject to unfair charges and collection practices by Sutter Health. "Over the past few years, many of these hospitals have been much more aggressive in collections process, and now folks are finding lawyers," Dermody said.