ER Fee Nondisclosure Claim Should Be Reinstated, Patient Says

A Mississippi hospital must be held liable for failing to tell patients about extra fees it charges for emergency room services because state law imposes a duty on it to disclose the fees before treatment, a Merit Health Biloxi patient told a federal appeals court.

Kimberly Henley is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reinstate her claims against Merit Health, which a lower court dismissed after finding Henley hadn’t stated a cause of action.

The lower court made two main errors, Henley said. It erroneously applied state law to find the hospital had no ...