class action suit news from FierceHealthcare

Two-hospital health system Northeast Health of Albany, NY has agreed to pay $1.25 million to nurses who brought a lawsuit charging the area's hospitals of colluding to keep nurse wages low. As part... Read more...

A federal appeals court has given plaintiffs in a class-action suit against HCA another bite at the apple. The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita, KS in 2006 on behalf of the... Read more...

St. Louis-based BJC Healthcare, a 13-hospital system that cares for about 30 percent of the hospital patients in the metro area, has agreed to give a 25 percent discount to all hospital patients... Read more...

> In part due to the high cost of living there, Silicon Valley is facing a particularly critical physician shortage. Read more...

A new legal ruling has dealt a blow to some California health plans, who have contended until now that canceling policies for unintentional application mistakes is acceptable under California law. A... Read more...

Minneapolis, MN-based Allina Hospitals & Clinics and Fairview Health Services have settled a 2004 class action suit alleging that the two systems overcharged uninsured patients. Under the terms of the settlement, Allina and Fairview have agreed to discount the outstanding balances of uninsured patients who were seen between early February 1999 and August 2005 by 25 percent. If the patient has paid in more than 75 percent, the systems will give the patient a voucher for credit against …

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> Despite making a commitment to move ahead, participants in a planned merger between Charlotte, NC-area health systems remain foggy on how things will work. Article

> A new Colorado bill which would mandate expanded mental health benefit coverage is taking some nasty shots from business groups, who say some mental health treatments are ineffective or even …

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A class action suit by more than 2,200 doctors, targeting Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Humana, United Healthcare and other defendants, will proceed through the court system rather than being shunted into arbitration. The physicians sued the health insurers in February 2005, arguing that the health plans were violating antitrust laws by, among other actions, collectively fixing prices and refusing to negotiate reasonable reimbursement rates. Contracts for most of the doctors …

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New Jersey's Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan, which insures 3.2 million consumers, has settled a class action suit claiming its reimbursement practices had treated thousands of doctors unfairly. The suit, which was filed in 2002 on behalf of about 40,000 of the state's physicians, contended that the HMO--along with United Healthcare and Cigna Healthcare--was paying doctors late and reducing payments unfairly. In settling the suit, which doesn't involve a payout by the health …

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Uninsured patients seen by Catholic Healthcare West hospitals from July 1, 2001, through September 25, 2006 are now entitled to a 35 percent discount or refund on their bill, following a ruling amending an existing class-action suit. In May, CHW had reached an agreement on the suit, which alleged that it engaged in price gouging of uninsured patients, but the new ruling restructured the payout to ensure that all affected patients received the same benefits. CHW will pay out …

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