Thursday, August 25, 2005
NEXT ATTACK ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SHAPING UP
From Medical News Today:
The Washington Post on Monday examined efforts to stop the alleged overcharging of uninsured patients at not-for-profit hospitals and profiled "lead agitator" K.B. Forbes, executive director of Consejo de Latinos Unidos. According to the Post, federal lawsuits in 22 states have been filed over the past year accusing not-for-profit hospitals of "failing to meet their tax-exempt obligations to provide indigent care." Forbes "is racing forward with a new line of attack, focusing on what he calls the un-Christian behavior of religiously affiliated hospitals," the Post reports. Forbes said, "It's offensive these hospitals market themselves as providing the healing mission of Christ. There is nothing healing about charging someone quadruple and then sending the bill collectors after them."
Continue reading...
Here is a link to the website of Consejo de Latinos Unidos where you will find the issue front and center, along with the phone numbers to contact them if you are struggling with hospital bills from uninsured hospital visits. The organization website says race, ethnicity, and income are not factors they consider.
The Associated Press article gives more information about pending lawsuits and notes that it is a Catholic hospital system that is being targeted:
Forbes said his organization will spend up to $20,000 next week to run announcements on English- and Spanish-language radio stations asking people to report possible incidents of overbilling and deception at facilities owned by Catholic Healthcare West and other companies.
The group, which offers free legal aid to the uninsured, will analyze the responses and prepare a report for Congress and the California Attorney General's Office. The investigation will later expand to target facilities in Arizona, Colorado and Ohio.
San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West operates 40 hospitals in California, Arizona and Nevada.
A spokeswoman for the hospital system counters the allegation:
Jan Emerson, spokeswoman for the California Hospital Association, said the allegations are unfounded. She said California hospitals lost $6.5 billion last year by providing health care to uninsured and underinsured patients.
The Washington Post story as reported by Medical News Today (linked above) claims that Forbes is working on behalf of J. Patrick Rooney, GOP donor and insurance giant. Forbes does not deny it, but says that it has no bearing on the allegations he makes. The hospitals claim that negotiating large discounts for major buyers is just the American way of free enterprise.
