On Tuesday, a suit originally filed in Florida state court by plaintiff Patricia Young against defendant Community Health Systems, Inc. was removed to federal court. The case concerns allegations that the defendant unlawfully was enforcing an ER Visitation Fee at one of their hospitals, Bayfront Health Brooksville.
The defendant owns and operates eleven hospitals in Florida, including Bayfront Health Brooksville, the complaint said. When the plaintiff got into a bicycle accident, she visited the defendant’s hospital’s emergency room to be treated. After being treated, she was charged an “ER Visitation Fee.” Young asserts that the visitation fee is not part of a “contractual authorization or agreement” and “is not listed anywhere on the Hospital’s Emergency Room Contract.” Further, the visitation fee is not disclosed in the hospital’s standards Consent for Service Agreement.
Young argues that the defendant has “no legal right to assess an ER Visitation Fee that is not included in its Contract” since a patient’s decision to proceed with treatment may be contingent upon the undisclosed fee. The defendant applies the charge after the services have been completed and introduces it for the first time when giving the patient a total bill of all their charges, which Young contends leaves ER patients “completely surprised” by the charge added onto their ER bill and substantially increases the bill.
CMS, or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, require that hospitals in the United States have a comprehensive, consumer friendly “Chargemaster” document that includes all of the items of service. The hospital was found to be in violation of this regulation earlier this year, at which point they were sent a warning letter that they countered by asserting the presence of a price estimator tool on their website. The plaintiff reasons that the defendant’s tool is “buried on its website” and “does not disclose its ER Visitation Fee in any way.”
Young explains that “the choice to how a patient wishes to proceed with his or her medical care should be up to the patient,” and that the defendant has a duty to provide reasonable notice of the ER Visitation Fee. The complaint cites a violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, Florida’s Declaratory Judgment Act and breach of contract. The plaintiff is seeking class certification for similarly situated individuals, injunctive relief, favorable judgment on all counts, restitution, litigation fees, and any other relief deemed just by the Court.
The plaintiff is represented in the litigation by Varnell & Warwick, while the defendant is represented by Sivyer Barlow & Watson.
