All self-funded payers that were citizens of California on January 6, 2015, or state and local governmental entities of the State of California that compensated Sutter Health for any anesthesia services, other than conscious sedation, administered in Sutter Health’s operating rooms at acute care hospitals at any time from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2013, are members of the Class.
You are a self-funded payer if you are an entity (such as an employer, union, or healthcare benefits trust) that funds the healthcare expenses of your employees or members, meaning that you pay for claims submitted by healthcare providers out of your own health plan funds, as the claims are presented. You are not a self-funded payer if you are an individual.
You are a citizen of California if: (a) you are organized under the laws of California, or (b) you have your principal place of business in California. For purposes of class membership, you are considered a citizen of California if you were a California citizen on January 6, 2015, regardless of whether you remained a California citizen after that date. If you are a California governmental entity (including, but not limited to, a city, a county, a hospital district, a school district, a fire protection district, a water or irrigation district, a transit or transportation district, a joint powers agency or authority, a public university, a department within the State, a superior court, the Judicial Council of California, or the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program) and are also a self-funded payer that compensated Sutter Health, you are included in the Class, whether or not you are a California citizen.
Excluded from the Class are: (1) Sutter Health and any entity in which Sutter Health has a controlling interest or which has a controlling interest in Sutter Health; (2) Sutter Health’s legal representatives, assigns, and successors; and (3) the judge(s) to whom this case is assigned and any member of the judge’s immediate family.
Sutter Health asserts various defenses in this case. Among other defenses, Sutter Health has advanced the affirmative defense that certain Class Members have released claims at issue in this case. Sutter Health’s release defense raises an issue as to whether certain Class Members may be impacted by mutual release agreements, wherein Sutter Health asserts that it previously agreed to release claims for (among other things) underpayment against Class Members.
If you are a Class Member who has a settlement agreement with Sutter Health involving a mutual release, in which Sutter released claims against you, then participation in the Class might void the releases and expose you to claims for damages by Sutter Health. |
You can contact your insurance company intermediary to obtain more information about the claims that are the subject of this lawsuit. You may also email Class Counsel at SutterAnesthesiaBillingLawsuit@hausfeld.com or mail your questions to Arthur Bailey, Hausfeld LLP, 888 16th Street N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006.