Uninsured Patients’ Class Suit Over Emergency Room Fees Revived

Dignity Health must face a class action by uninsured patients seeking a declaration its emergency room admissions contract included an “open price” term that restricted charges to the reasonable value of the treatment provided, a California appeals court ruled Nov. 12.

The lower court denied class certification, finding that determining whether the rate charged to thousands of class members at all of Dignity’s hospitals in California was reasonable would overwhelm the litigation.

But the appeals court found that certification of a limited issues class narrowed to patients at one hospital was appropriate. The outcome of the lower court’s ruling on ...