Sarun v. Dignity Health, B288062
| Citation | 254 Cal.Rptr.3d 734,41 Cal.App.5th 1119 |
| Decision Date | 12 November 2019 |
| Docket Number | B288062 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Tony SARUN et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. DIGNITY HEALTH, Defendant and Respondent. |
Law Offices of Barry Kramer, Barry L. Kramer ; Carpenter Law and Gretchen Carpenter, Los Angeles, for Plaintiffs and Appellants.
Ogloza Fortney, Darius Ogloza and David Fortney, San Francisco, for Defendant and Respondent.
Tony Sarun had no health insurance in March 2012 when he received emergency care at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, then owned and operated by Dignity Health.1 Upon admission Sarun signed an agreement to pay the hospital's "full charges, unless other discounts apply." "Full charges" were defined as "the Hospital's published rates (called the chargemaster), prior to any discounts or reductions." The admissions contract explained uninsured patients might qualify for government aid programs or financial assistance from Dignity Health.
After receiving an invoice for $23,487.90, which reflected a chargemaster rate of $31,359 and a $7,871.10 "uninsured discount," and without applying for any other discount or financial assistance, Sarun filed this putative class action lawsuit. In his third amended complaint, filed in May 2015, Sarun asserts claims for unfair and/or deceptive business practices under Business and Professions Code section 17200 (UCL) and violation of the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) ( Civ. Code, § 1750 et seq. ) and seeks declarations that Dignity Health's billing practices as they relate to uninsured individuals who received emergency care at a Dignity Health hospital in California are "unfair, unconscionable and/or unreasonable" and that, because the prices to be charged are not adequately disclosed or readily available to those individuals, its admissions contract contains an "open price" term within the meaning of Civil Code section 1611,2 so that self-pay patients3 are liable only for the reasonable value of the services or treatment provided.
In June 2017 Sarun moved for class certification of his cause of action for declaratory relief, now defining the proposed class as individuals who had received treatment at Northridge Hospital Medical Center during the proposed class period and who were directly billed for such treatment at chargemaster rates or chargemaster rates less an uninsured discount. In December 2017 the trial court denied Sarun's motion, finding the class was not ascertainable; common issues of fact did not predominate because it would be necessary to determine whether thousands of individual chargemaster rates were reasonable or unconscionable to provide meaningful relief; and, for the same reason, a class action was neither manageable nor a superior method for resolving the litigation. The court's order did not address Sarun's alternate request for certification of an issue class, limited to the question whether Dignity Health's admissions contract included an "open price" term.
We exercise our inherent authority to modify the class definition, combining elements of the definition in Sarun's third amended complaint and his motion for class certification and limiting it to uninsured individuals who, during the relevant time period, received emergency care at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and who signed (personally or through an authorized agent) the admissions contract and were thereafter directly billed for that treatment at chargemaster rates or chargemaster rates less the uninsured discount. As to that redefined class, we reverse in part the trial court's order denying class certification and direct it to certify as a class issue whether Dignity Health's admissions contract contains an open price term, so that patients within the class are obligated to pay no more than the reasonable value of the services provided.
According to the allegations of the third amended complaint, Sarun was taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Northridge Hospital Medical Center following a motor vehicle accident. He was released three to four hours later after being examined and receiving various diagnostic tests.
While at the hospital Sarun signed a standard form "Conditions of Admissions and Treatment," which included terms governing payment for services. Paragraph 8(b) of the admissions contract stated, The term "full charges" was defined at the beginning of the agreement as "the Hospital's published rates (called the chargemaster), prior to any discounts or reductions." Paragraph 9, "Financial Assistance," explained the hospital could help uninsured patients enroll in government health care programs, and, if the patient did not qualify, might provide financial assistance under its own financial assistance policy.
Sometime following his treatment, Sarun received a "Balance Due Notice," reflecting total charges of $31,359, the chargemaster rate; an uninsured discount of $7,871.10; and a balance due of $23,487.90. The invoice stated, in addition to the uninsured discount, "you may be eligible for other forms of financial assistance such as government sponsored programs" and provided a telephone number for further information. A document included with the invoice described the financial assistance options, provided an application and enumerated the necessary documentation. (See Sarun v. Dignity Health (2014) 232 Cal.App.4th 1159, 1163, 181 Cal.Rptr.3d 545.)4 Sarun did not seek any further discount or apply for financial assistance. ( Ibid . ) However, a second invoice was sent to Sarun, showing that a "prompt pay" discount would reduce the balance due to $15,648.15 if he paid the total within 30 days.5
Northridge Hospital Medical Center, like hospitals across the country, uses a charge description master or "chargemaster," which is a list of all the billable medical goods or services provided by the hospital. (See Health & Saf. Code, § 1339.51, subd. (b)(1) [].) As explained by Dignity Health, a chargemaster is a list, Each of Dignity Health's hospitals had its own chargemaster; each hospital set its own prices for items and services on its chargemaster list; and Indeed, as the Supreme Court observed, "Chargemaster prices for a given service can vary tremendously, sometimes by a factor of five or more, from hospital to hospital in California." ( Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. (2011) 52 Cal.4th 541, 561, 129 Cal.Rptr.3d 325, 257 P.3d 1130 ( Howell ).)
A hospital is not prohibited from using its chargemaster for billing purposes (see Health & Saf. Code, § 127444 ) and is authorized to negotiate and charge alternative rates (see Bus. & Prof. Code, § 16770, subd. (f) ). As Dignity Health acknowledges, contracts between hospitals and commercial insurance companies include a variety of negotiated price terms for different services and supplies, including percentage discounts from chargemaster rates, flat fees for certain services, per diem rates, "not to exceed" pricing and special payment terms for specific services such as trauma or burn care.
A hospital's chargemaster must be posted on its website or made available at the hospital's physical location ( Health & Saf. Code, § 1339.51, subd. (a)(1) ) and must be filed with California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (see Health & Saf. Code, § 1339.55 ), which makes chargemasters available to the public on its website.
Sarun's third amended complaint alleges causes of action under the UCL and the CLRA and for declaratory relief under Code of Civil Procedure section 1060.6 Addressing uninsured emergency care patients at Dignity Health generally and the 32 acute-care hospitals it owned or operated throughout California, not at just Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Sarun alleged Dignity Health used the same adhesive admissions contract at all its hospitals and required all emergency care patients or their agents to sign it. Sarun further alleged the admissions contract contains "no fixed or definite pricing terms" because the phrase "full charges, unless other discounts apply" is inadequately explained and cannot be made certain. Accordingly, the admissions contract has an open price term, obligating patients to pay only the reasonable value of the care received. Alternatively, Sarun alleges Dignity Health's chargemaster prices are several times greater than the reasonable value of the services provided, as well as the reimbursement amounts received from other categories of patients, and bear no relation to the hospital's actual costs for providing treatment or services. As a result, the chargemaster prices, if...
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