HispanicBusiness

ORLANDO, Fla., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Consejo de Latinos Unidos, a non- profit organization that aids and educates uninsured Hispanics and others, spearheaded the first "group suit" against a hospital, filing a single lawsuit with 35 plaintiffs in state court today against Florida Hospital, an Adventist Health System hospital. The legal maneuvers by Florida Hospital will be closely watched and reported to the U.S. House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

"The objective is simple: end price gouging for uninsured patients," said K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the Consejo. "Some hospitals keep spitting out new sugar-coated policies and procedures but have done nothing to end the real problem: pricing. We can no longer wait for justice. With today's action, we will force hospitals, like Florida Hospital, to deal with the ugly and vicious behavior they engage in day in, day out: price gouging the uninsured."

Victim's attorney, Matthew W. Dietz, said, "Florida Hospital has taken advantage of its position and the circumstances in which these patients are placed to charge them an exorbitant price for services -- up to three times more than what is fair and reasonable."

Unlike class-action lawsuits that take years of legal wrangling, the group suit seeks direct relief for all 35 plaintiffs that can be obtained within a year. In the forthcoming months, the consumer advocacy group will be filing other group suits to force hospitals to provide charity care to those that qualify and offer reasonable pricing and payment terms to other uninsured patients.

In June of last year, the U.S. House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held hearings on the issue of hospital billing practices. "We will be informing them and other authorities of every legal maneuver Florida Hospital partakes in to delay eventual justice," said Forbes.

Florida Hospital has drawn severe criticism for allegedly charging uninsured patients three to four times more than what they would typically accept as payment in full from an insurance company. In 2003, Consejo de Latinos Unidos was credited by The Wall Street Journal with "a big win" after forcing the nation's second largest hospital chain, Tenet Healthcare, to end its aggressive billing practices against uninsured patients. Consejo de Latinos Unidos