Humble Surgical Hospital May Be Forced to Sell After Bankruptcy Ruling

HUMBLE, TX — Humble Surgical Hospital filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, less than a month after a multi-million dollar judge was rendered against the five-bed specialty hospital.

Aetna Life Insurance Company, which filed the lawsuit in 2012, was awarded a $51.4 million judgement after the insurance carrier claimed the medical provider charged rates upward of 10 times more than the standard market rate, according to a Houston Chronicle report. (Want to get daily updates about traffic news and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Houston Patch morning newsletter.)

Humble Surgical Hospital, which plans to remain open while they work through the proceedings, could be sold to satisfy the judgement.

In their lawsuit, Aetna claimed the hospital charged its patients out-of-pocket fees similar to what in-network facilities would charge, while the hospital was billing Aetna for the procedures as an out-of-network provider.

Read the entire Houston Chronicle story here.

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