What Is This Lawsuit About?

This lawsuit was filed on January 6, 2015, and is pending in the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda and the Honorable Michael Markman is presiding over this case. Plaintiff alleges that Sutter Health violated California’s Unfair Competition Law, Business & Professions Code § 17200. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that Sutter Health engaged in fraudulent, unlawful, and unfair business practices by submitting and receiving payment on bills for “anesthesia services” that were not rendered, were double-billed, and were described in a misleading manner, and that this resulted in self-funded payers paying more for anesthesia services than they should have.

Sutter Health denies the allegations and denies that any of its practices were unfair or deceptive. Sutter Health asserts that its practices fully complied with all applicable laws, and it denies that Plaintiff and the Class are entitled to receive any money or other relief from Sutter Health.

Who Is in the Settlement Class?

On June 30, 2021, this Court certified a Class consisting of all self-funded payers that were citizens of California on January 6, 2015 or that are state and local governmental entities of the State of California, and 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.

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. You are not a Class Member if you timely opted out of the Class after it was certified by the Court. The Court’s deadline to opt out was June 7, 2022.