A patient has filed a lawsuit against Greenville, N.C.-based Vidant Health, alleging the 1,477-bed system engaged in deceptive billing and debt collection practices.
In the lawsuit, filed Feb. 18, plaintiff George Cansler alleges the health system and debt collection agency FirstPoint Collection Resources violated several state laws, including the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Specifically, Mr. Cansler alleges Vidant Health and FirstPoint "used and continue to use an unfair, deceptive scheme designed to extract undisclosed and unreasonably high prices from patients."
According to the lawsuit, Mr. Cansler visited the emergency room at Vidant Chowan Hospital in Edenton, N.C., in 2018 for extreme pain resulting from a likely kidney stone. More than a year after his visit, Mr. Cansler received a bill from Vidant asking him to pay $3,119 for a CT scan, a rate 11 times what Medicare paid for the service in 2018. The complaint alleges the rate for many common procedures is at least 10 times higher than the Medicare rate.
The complaint also alleges Mr. Cansler had not been told of the price beforehand and that Vidant executives told him it was a violation of federal law to disclose the price to patients before rendering care in the ER.
"Vidant made it impossible for patients to make an informed financial decision about their care, and patients could not — and did not — willingly consent to pay Vidant's unreasonable, undisclosed prices," the complaint reads.
The complaint further alleges Vidant "compounded financial harm" by "harassing" patients to pay the high bills and sending the accounts to collections, threatening their credit score.
The plaintiff is asking the court to certify the lawsuit as a class action, require Vidant to reimburse residents who were overbilled and halt these allegedly deceptive surprise billing and debt collection practices.
"The narrative presented in the press release promoting a class action lawsuit is inconsistent with Vidant Health's values as a patient-centered, mission-driven, not-for-profit organization," Vidant Health said in a statement. "Importantly, all Vidant hospitals are fully compliant with all federal pricing transparency regulations as confirmed by the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office. Vidant is confident that its policies, consistent with all state and federal rules and regulations, were appropriately followed in this instance. Vidant is committed to partnering with patients to ensure they have the support they need to successfully navigate their health care journeys. In addition to a dedicated team of case managers who help patients understand their bills, set up payment plans and provide charity care in all applicable cases, Vidant has transparent pricing resources available online for any patient or prospective patient to reference.”