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According to news reports published last week, several lawsuits were filed in various states across the country against nonprofit hospitals for their billing practices. The lawsuits alleged that the hospitals violated their obligation as charities by overcharging people without insurance and then hounding them for the money. Hospitals in Chicago, Atlanta and Minnesota were targeted with more lawsuits expected in the near future. The lawyers involved are seeking class action status to represent those patients who should have received "affordable" healthcare, but in the final analysis, did not. Some of the hospitals involved are among the most profitable in the country with hundreds of millions[even billions]in assets and revenues.

The suits allege that after uninsured patients receive treatment, they receive bills that are substantially higher than the rates charged to insured patients. In some cases the bills were two to three times as high as an insured patient would have received. In addition, the lawsuits alleged that the hospitals were particularly aggressive in trying to collect from the uninsured. The hospitals counter that the billing rates for the uninsured simply reflect the discounts obtained by HMO's and insurance companies.