SAN FRANCISCO, CA— A few days after the Consejo de Latinos Unidos, a national advocacy group that educates and assists the uninsured, lambasted not-for-profit hospital giant Catholic Healthcare West’s (CHW) proposed settlement of a lawsuit on hospital price gouging, the embattled hospital chain filed an amended settlement last month, according to California state court documents.

“CHW has gone from bad to worse to a living hell,” said K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the Consejo. “The only major change in the amended settlement is that CHW has removed its obscene Zip Code List and now will offer discounts to uninsured residents who only live in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Uninsured patients visiting or on temporary work assignments from forty-seven states will continue to be price gouged.”

Forbes, a practicing Catholic, noted that this settlement provision goes against Catholic policies against discriminating people who cross borders. “The Catholic Church has always stood for the human rights of immigrants who cross the border into the United States. In essence, the Church believes that immigration is, as one writer put it, ‘a “sacrament of unity,” a process through which the Holy Spirit moves the world toward greater brotherhood.’”

Forbes noted that CHW’s discrimination is based on state borders, not on international borders, making the amended settlement even more inconsistent with Catholic doctrine and added, “CHW has taken the low road that sets up pseudo borders while trampling Church doctrine, policies, and belief. We will not tolerate this immoral settlement that violates fundamental human rights.”

Besides excluding residents of 47 states, CHW’s amended settlement designs a discount program for the uninsured that would exclude anyone who had had or could have qualified for health insurance 24 months prior to when emergency hospital services were rendered. “In essence, 99 percent of the uninsured would be excluded,” Forbes stated.

The Consejo believes CHW should charge all uninsured patients, regardless of race, ethnicity, or income, a fair and reasonable price, like an HMO. Currently, hospitals charge the uninsured four or five times more than what they would accept as payment in full from an insurance company.

Forbes reiterated, “We would be willing to support a settlement if some of these ridiculous barriers were removed, a fair pricing structure was included, and third-party verification and enforcement of the pricing plan were included. If not, we will continue to vigorously oppose this deal until it utterly collapses.”