Sutter Health Uninsured Pricing
Class Action Lawsuit
Sutter Health Uninsured Pricing Class Action Lawsuit
In September 2004, uninsured patients filed a class action lawsuit against Sutter Health (“Sutter”) on behalf of themselves and hundreds of thousands of uninsured patients at Sutter-affiliated hospitals in California. The plaintiffs alleged that Sutter charged uninsured patients excessive and unfair prices for medical treatment and engaged in aggressive and unfair collections practices.
Sutter is a major California nonprofit healthcare system headquartered in Sacramento, with over 20 affiliate hospitals in its system. Sutter denied wrongdoing and liability in the case.
Fall 2007 Update
An appeal from the Court's order approving the Settlement was filed on February 13, 2007. The appeal is pending in the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District. Claims will not be processed or paid until the appeal is resolved. It is uncertain how long resolution of the appeal will take. It could take anywhere from 6-12 months, or longer.
Please revisit this website (or the settlement website, uninsuredsettlement.com) periodically for updates. Alternately, you can obtain information regarding the status of this appeal directly from the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District's website. If you wish to receive email alerts related to this Appeal, click on the link for "automatic e-mail notifications about this case" (at the bottom of the page) and provide your email address. The parties believe that this appeal is baseless and regret the delay it has caused in processing class members' claims.
Court Grants Preliminary Approval of Settlement
On August 3, 2006, Sacramento Superior Court Judge David W. Abbott, granted preliminary approval to a settlement of the action. The settlement resolves the named Plaintiffs' and Class members' claims against Sutter and its affiliated hospitals.
As part of the settlement, Class members will be entitled to make a claim for refunds or deductions of between 25% to 45% from their prior hospital bills. For the next three years, Sutter hospitals have also agreed to maintain discounted pricing policies for uninsureds that will make Sutter's pricing for uninsureds comparable to the pricing for patients with private insurance. In addition, Sutter has agreed to maintain more compassionate collections policies that will protect uninsureds who fall behind in their payments.
The Class Defined
The proposed Class includes all persons who:
- Received hospital services from a Sutter-affiliated hospital between September 3, 2000 and August 3, 2006; and
- Were uninsured at the time of treatment.
Court Grants Final Approval of Settlement
A final approval hearing to consider the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy of the proposed Settlement occured on November 27, 2006. On December 12, 2006, the Court granted final approval to the settlement, finding it to be fair, reasonable and adequate. Read a copy of Plaintiffs' press release.
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