Beginning of the end? North Mississippi Health Services' settlement of uninsured billing issues raises questions about future of hospital lawsuits.(The Scrugg Law Firm P.A.)

Byline: Mark Taylor

Healthcare legal experts clashed last week on whether a Mississippi hospital system's multimillion-dollar settlement of uninsured billing issues represented a single defection or the start of a massive legal surrender.

Lawyers representing some of the hospital defendants in the burgeoning class-action lawsuits said their clients believe the allegations are baseless and they plan to fight the lawsuits. But others said the first settlement stemming from allegations that not-for-profit hospitals overcharge uninsured patients and employ overly aggressive collection techniques could spur others.

The first health system to settle was not even named as a defendant in the lawsuits focusing national attention on the charity practices of community hospitals. North Mississippi Health Services, a six-hospital, 736-bed not-for-profit system in Tupelo, settled before Richard Scruggs' Oxford, Miss.-based law firm filed suit but spent several months negotiating the agreement. Scruggs' firm, famous for its tobacco litigation, launched the wave of national lawsuits.

American Hospital Association President Richard Davidson said the North Mississippi settlement "has no bearing on the lawsuits brought against us or any of the hospitals that day in and day out provide outstanding care for patients and their families. And we, as well as the hospitals, intend to fight his baseless charges vigorously because they will divert resources hospitals need to care for their communities.''

But James Unland, a healthcare financial consultant and president of Healthcare Capital Group, chastised the AHA for its reaction.

"A growing number of hospitals are saying the AHA reaction is counterproductive and transmits …