Court tosses $300,000 hospital bill for promised $1,300 tab

DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a woman who expected to pay about $1,300 for spinal fusion surgery but was billed more than $300,000 by a suburban Denver hospital that included charges it never disclosed she might be liable for.

This week’s ruling in favor of Lisa French, who underwent two surgeries in 2014, follows efforts by many U.S. states and the federal government to help curb health care costs by restricting or eliminating so-called “surprise billing ” and requiring increased price transparency for consumers.

In a unanimous opinion, the Colorado justices ruled Monday that agreements French signed before surgery at St. Anthony North Health Campus in Westminster don’t compel her to pay the extra charges, which stemmed from a then-secret list of prices for services that hadn't been disclosed to her.

French had expected to pay $1,337 out of pocket after her medical insurance covered the rest, believing St. Anthony’s was an in-network provider. But a hospital employee provided her an incorrect estimate after apparently misreading her insurance card; in fact, the hospital wasn’t in-network, The Denver Post reported.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/court-tosses-300-000-hospital-182356073.html