Moran v. Prime Healthcare Management CA4/3

Opinion

MOORE, J.—

A person receiving medical treatment at a hospital’s emergency room who pays for it out of pocket can be charged substantially more for that care than one who is covered by either a government-sponsored program or private insurance. This case concerns whether one can maintain an action challenging this variable pricing practice under the unfair competition law (UCL; Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.), the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA; Civ. Code, § 1750 et seq.), or for declaratory relief (Code Civ. Proc., § 1060). While most of the claims asserted by plaintiff Gene…