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(COMTEX) B: Medical Savings Insurance Company Sues Florida Hospitals Florida Hospitals Fix Prices, Inflate Prices, and Violate Federal Antitrust Laws, Lawsuit Charges ( PRNewswire )

TAMPA BAY, Fla., Mar 17, 2004 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Florida hospitals, in violation of United States Antitrust laws, have engaged in a widespread "conspiracy" to artificially and unlawfully inflate prices to "exorbitant" levels to consumers, resulting in extraordinary growth in profitability to these hospitals.

That is the most serious charge in a federal lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Ft. Myers Division) by Medical Savings Insurance Company, an Oklahoma Corporation.

The suit also alleges that Florida hospitals are engaging in a coordinated and illegal group boycott against Medical Savings Insurance Company because the company has refused to collaborate in the hospitals unlawful pricing schemes.

Randy Suttles, president of Medical Savings Insurance Company says, "We have a contractual obligation to our policyholders not to pay more than what the hospitals are entitled to, and that is a reasonable value for goods and services, something courts have agreed with, time and time again."

Alan Nisberg, Esq., Medical Savings' Florida legal counsel filing the suit, provided some background. "In 2003, the State of Florida obtained a judgment against HCA for alleged violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practice Act and United States Antitrust laws. Florida's Attorney General brought that action asserting that HCA's anti-competitive conduct resulted in consumers being deprived of open market price competition. That action was brought in the very same federal court in which Medical Savings is now seeking injunctive relief and monetary damages against HCA and others."

Nisberg continued, "In a dispute last year between BayCare Health System and Blue Cross and Blue Shield's Health Options, a state-approved dispute resolution system found Health Options' payment of Medicare rates plus 20% to be reasonable. Medical Savings pays more than that. We intend to show that the hospitals named in this lawsuit, together with their trade association, the Florida Hospital Association, have been engaged in an unconscionable scheme of price fixing, forcing unreasonable prices upon Florida consumers."

In recent months, consumer groups and media reports have documented many of these alleged abuses by the hospitals. The Miami Herald, The Ft. Myers News-Press, Orlando Sentinel, Naples Daily News, Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, and The Wall Street Journal have all carried stories on the high prices charged to those without insurance. Hospitals generally charge the uninsured three to five times what insurance pays for the same care.

HCA, Inc., which owns the greatest number of hospitals in Florida, is currently boycotting Medical Savings Insurance.

Underscoring the conspiracy charge, the complaint shows the closeness of the relationship between HCA and the Florida Hospital Association (FHA), a trade association helping to coordinate the boycott. Many of the current FHA Board of Trustee positions are held by high-ranking employees of HCA.

In a February 21, 2003, newsletter the FHA wrote, "If your hospital has taken legal action against (Medical Savings) or a patient insured by (Medical Savings) and you would like to work with other hospitals taking legal action, please e-mail Kim Streit and she will coordinate the sharing of information between the various parties."

Since then, other hospitals have joined the boycott.

Randy Suttles said, "This is more than a dispute between an insurance company acting on behalf of its policyholders. This is a fight for affordable health care for hundreds of thousands of Floridians -- many of whom are minorities, who cannot afford health insurance -- but as a class should not be singled out by profit hungry corporations."

The lawsuit is asking that the court find the hospitals named in the suit in violation of Federal anti-trust laws, guilty of conspiracy in driving prices to exorbitant levels, and guilty of participating in an illegal boycott of Medical Savings Insurance Company.

In addition, the lawsuit asks the court, among other things to enjoin the hospitals from arbitrarily setting prices at levels that have no reasonable relationship to the costs of goods and services and end the unreasonable or discriminatory amounts charged to patients.

Medical Savings Insurance Company promises the court it will direct any punitive damages awarded to a fund to help defray the costs of hospital care for uninsured patients in Florida who cannot to pay their own medical bills.

Medical Savings Insurance Company is licensed in 35 states and offers Health Savings Accounts to individuals.

Broadcast media: Beta footage of MSIC executive and legal counsel interviews and other background materials available upon request -- please go to our website at http://www.medicalsavings.com/flantitrust for a preview.

CONTACT: Kathy Maiville of Butler, Pappas, Weihmuller, Katz, Craig, [phone], ext. 227, for Medical Savings Insurance Company.

SOURCE Medical Savings Insurance Company

CONTACT: Kathy Maiville of Butler, Pappas, Weihmuller, Katz, Craig, [phone], ext. 227, for Medical Savings Insurance Company

URL: http://www.medicalsavings.com/flantitrust

Copyright (C) 2004 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.

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