Orlando Health filed a federal lawsuit June 9 against Liberty HealthShare, accusing the healthcare-sharing ministry of trying to get free services it should have paid for and disputing claims without providing details.
According to the lawsuit, Orlando Health received a letter in August 2021 from Liberty regarding $1.1 million owed by the ministry. The ministry indicated the amount was related to a "large block of claims," but allegedly did not identify patients, procedures or other identifying information for the claims.
The ministry also allegedly referred to the existence of discrepancies in claims, but did not give specific amounts or identify any particular claim.
Orlando Health said in the lawsuit that it was unaware of any patients who were members of the ministry, nor of any amounts owed by Liberty.
In October, Orlando Health sent a letter to the ministry requesting a list of the accounts at issue, but allegedly did not get a response.
Orlando Health alleges that it has since learned that Liberty HealthShare instructed patients to not disclose the ministry as an outside source of funding "so as to illegitimately secure the reduced 'charity rate' for medical services."
Orlando Health is seeking a complete and full accounting of all medical services it provided to the ministry's members, a complete list of purported discrepancies and a complete accounting of payment owed.