A lawsuit recently filed against Baptist Health System of Birmingham “could destroy the system” of indigent care in Alabama, according to Alabama Attorney General Troy King.
In a statement issued Aug. 19, King said, “I am convicted that the challenges contained in this litigation, far from ensuring the availability of indigent health care to those most dependent upon it, could destroy the system by which it is currently offered.”
King announced that he was seeking permission from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama to file a friend of the court brief in the case of Kizzire, Martin and Dennis v. Baptist Health System, Inc. and American Hospital Association. King said he was not entering the case on the side of either party but “on behalf of the interests of the State of Alabama.”
King also said the plaintiffs “are attempting to enforce rights for which they lack the standing under state law to do so.”
Beth O’Brien, chief executive officer of Baptist Health System, said BHS “requested the involvement of the attorney general because the lawsuit alleges novel theories of law that are actually in the domain of his office.”
In a statement released Aug. 20, O’Brien called the lawsuit “a reckless approach to a very serious issue.”
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