LifePoint Health hospital loses balance billing case in Virginia
A Virginia judge has ordered Martinsville Memorial Hospital, owned by LifePoint Health, to cut its balance billing rates by 75 percent in a case involving a patient covered by a non-contracted insurer, according to Virginia Lawyers Weekly.
The dispute came after Glenn Dennis was billed more than $111,000 after a two-day hospital stay and surgery to place five stents in his arteries following a heart attack. Dennis and his insurer paid a combined $27,000, and hospital then sued Dennis for the $83,000 difference.
Dennis argued his payments were sufficient because of the hospital’s policy regarding uninsured patients, who are allowed to pay 25 percent of the hospital’s chargemaster rates, according to the Martinsville Daily.
The judge ruled on March 31 that Dennis only owed the hospital an additional $500, a ruling which the Virginia Lawyers Weekly calls “rare judicial rebuke to the common hospital practice” of balance billing.
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.