Friday, March 31, 2006      

AHA REBUKED BY 60 MINUTES 

American Hospital Association Accusations
Against Champion for the Uninsured Dismissed 

NEW YORK, NY—In a letter posted on CBS’ 60 Minutes webpage yesterday afternoon, the accusations by the American Hospital Association (AHA) against a leading advocate for the uninsured, K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the Consejo de Latinos Unidos or Council of United Latinos, were rebuked and dismissed by a producer with the award-winning news magazine. 

Earlier this month in a letter to 60 Minutes, the AHA accused Forbes of being financed by the health insurance industry. 

In a response letter to the AHA, Michael Rosenbaum, producer of the 60 Minutes’ segment titled “Is the Price Right?” wrote, “Forbes says his work is on behalf of the uninsured, and is in no way connected with any agenda of any insurance company. All the evidence we’ve seen shows that is correct. And, even Forbes’ harshest critics have not provided any evidence that his work for the uninsured involves promoting, proselytizing or lobbying for any form of insurance.” 

Controversy first erupted after an AHA leader twice denied on 60 Minutes that hospitals overcharge uninsured patients saying that everybody is charged the same. The AHA leader also called the abuse accusations by a powerful U.S. Senator “nothing of the sort” on the program.  

Hospitals typically charge the uninsured four or five times more than what they would accept as payment in full from an insurance company. Forbes and the work of the Consejo were also featured in the segment that originally aired on March 5^th.  

Since the segment aired, leaders on Capitol Hill and in the White House have demanded that hospitals provide price transparency. On March 15^th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it will begin posting Medicare rates paid to hospitals later this year. 

The letters are posted at: 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/30/60minutes/main1456966.shtml