Wednesday, March 15, 2006  
 

AN END TO HOSPITAL PRICE GOUGING? 
 

Advocacy Group Announces Fair Pricing for the Uninsured Certification and Compliance Program 
 

WASHINGTON, DC—One of the nation’s leading advocacy groups for uninsured patients, the Consejo de Latinos Unidos, extended an olive branch to the embattled hospital industry today by announcing a “Fair Pricing for the Uninsured Certification and Compliance Program” for hospitals. Hospitals have been under increased scrutiny for charging the uninsured three or four times more that what the hospital would accept as payment in full from an insurance company.

The Consejo will give hospitals the opportunity to reaffirm or establish fair pricing policies for the uninsured and post them on a website. The Consejo will also monitor and verify if hospitals are complying with and informing uninsured patients about their discount and fair pricing policies.

“In the forthcoming months, we hope to establish an electronic clearinghouse on the internet where uninsured patients can view actual fair pricing policies of hospitals from across the country,” said K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the Consejo, a national non-profit organization that educates and assists the uninsured. “Our main objective is to bring to an end the ugly era of hospital price gouging of the uninsured and restore public confidence in the hospital sector.”

In the past week, from the White House to the halls of Congress, the hospital pricing issue has gained unwanted political steam. Chairman Bill Thomas of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee recently wrote that “hospital charges have become so grossly inflated above their private market rates so as to be meaningless.”

Some hospital insiders and executives are upset with the lack of leadership of the American Hospital Association (AHA). Many believe the AHA has fueled the controversy, provoked additional Congressional inquiries and investigations, and inspired state Attorney Generals to probe the tax-exempt status of nonprofit hospitals.

The AHA appears to have done very little since acknowledging the problem over three years ago and now some disgruntled hospital executives want an amiable end to the controversy.

“Consejo is committed to working with hospitals who wish to restore the public trust and offer fair pricing to the uninsured. Everything is on the table to be negotiated in the best interests of the uninsured, local community, and the hospital,” Forbes said. More at www.consejohelp.org.

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