CHICAGO, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A Chicago law firm has filed a class action suit against the non-profit Carle Foundation Hospital for discriminating against uninsured patients.
The suit was filed in Illinois Circuit Court in Champaign County against the 300-bed facility located in Urbana, which serves as the primary teaching hospital for the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
The suit, filed by Clifford Law Offices, is the 65th filed against 60 hospital systems in the nation by attorney Richard Scruggs or his associates on behalf of uninsured patients.
In a case similar to the others, Carle is alleged to have failed to live up to its non-profit mandate of providing charity care, forcing uninsured patients to pay rates far higher than patients who had health insurance. Carle also is alleged to have sought 164 warrants -- called body attachments -- since 1995 for the arrest of uninsured patients who did not pay their bills.
The American Hospital Association, which has been named as a defendant in some of these cases, has successfully challenged a number of the lawsuits around the country.
