San Francisco Chronicle, "Charity care flareup; Pressure mounts on hospitals over health billings"

          Pressure on California hospitals to offer discounted care to patients without health insurance increased this week with the filing of a lawsuit against a major hospital system and release of a study on charity care practices. The suit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, accuses Sutter Health of gouging the uninsured by charging them "unfair, unreasonable and inflated" prices. The suit is similar to one filed against Sutter in Alameda County Superior Court in June.
          A survey of 40 California hospitals by Health Access, a coalition of labor and community groups, found that many are not adhering to voluntary guidelines on caring for uninsured patients established by the state hospital trade group in February. The survey, released earlier this week, found about half the hospitals failed to post signs in emergency rooms or other central locations providing information about the hospital's charity care practices.
          Hospitals across the country have come under increasing scrutiny for their practice of charging uninsured patients far more than they do insurance companies and government agencies, and sometimes using aggressive tactics to collect. Hospitals have standard prices for their services, but insurers generally negotiate steep discounts. In most cases, only people without health insurance are charged the full amount. Some 48 lawsuits against the not-for-profit hospital system in 23 states have been filed by Mississippi attorney Richard Scruggs and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein in recent months.