ORDER

D.P. MARSHALL, JR., District Judge.

1. Joint report on notice, No. 147, appreciated. The parties' fruitful collaborations are obvious.

2. The Court resolves the parties' few disagreements as noted in the attached mark-up of Baptist's redline of the notice, No. 147-2. The Court agrees with Whitley about other Baptist facilities. Otherwise, the Court mostly adopts Baptist's suggestions with some tweaks. The scope of the "other sources" remains a fighting issue, which the Court will resolve in the next round of motions. Baptist must continue producing information about all of the individuals covered by Whitley's listed categories. They're in the class for now. All must get notice. But there's no need to get into these particulars in the notice.

3. The Court notes Baptist's comment about the March discovery cutoff. The parties must do their best to stick to the schedule. Please continue to collaborate. And the Court is open to creative proposals, especially joint ones, to keep this older case on track for trial in September.

So Ordered.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS WESTERN DIVISION

IMPORTANT

A federal court authorized this notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

NOTICE OF CLASS CERTIFICATION AND OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION

TO POTENTIAL MEMBERS OF THE FOLLOWING CLASS:

All Arkansas residents who, since July 30, 2011, received any type of healthcare treatment from any Arkansas entity owned, controlled, or managed by Baptist Health or Baptist Health Hospitals; (i) the treatment was covered by valid, in network, health coverage that was underwritten, administered, or supported by (a) QualChoice of Arkansas, (b) Health Advantage, (c) Blue Cross Blue Shield, (d) Humana, (e) Aetna, or (f) UnitedHealthcare; (ii) Baptist submitted the charges for the treatment to the patient's health insurer for payment; (iii) Baptist accepted payment from the health insurer for the treatment; (iv) Baptist (itself or through its agents) sought payment for the treatment from sources other than the health insurer by maintaining or asserting hospital lien(s) for the treatment after accepting payment from the health insurer; and (v) the individual sustained damages.

You received this Notice because YOU MAY BE A MEMBER OF THE CLASS.

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(2)(B) and the Order of the Honorable D.P. Marshall Jr., United States District Court Judge dated September 13, 2019, the Court has certified this litigation as a class action on behalf of the above-defined class ("Class") and the Court has appointed Plaintiff and his Counsel as Class Representative and Class Counsel, respectively.

If you are receiving this notice, you may be a member of the Class. You may have a claim.

THIS NOTICE MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY.

Pursuant to Federal Rule 23 and the Court's Order, you are hereby notified as follows:

This notice is to inform you of the pendency of a class action and the certification of a plaintiff class in a lawsuit involving claims against Defendants Baptist Health, Baptist Health Hospitals, Diamond Risk Insurance LLC, Continental Casualty Company, Admiral Insurance Company, Admiral Indemnity Company, Ironshore Indemnity, Inc., and Ironshore Specialty Insurance Company.

In summary, the Litigation is based on Plaintiff's allegations that Defendants (Baptist Health hospitals Baptist) accepted payment from one of six commercial health insurers — (a) QualChoice of Arkansas, (b) Health Advantage, (c) Blue Cross Blue Shield, (d) Humana, (e) Aetna, or (f) UnitedHealthcare — for your medical treatment and wrongfully sought payment for that treatment from sources other than health insurance by asserting or maintaining hospital liens. Plaintiff asserts that if Defendants (Baptist) accepted a contractually-reduced payment from one of the six health insurance carriers, Defendants were prohibited from asserting or maintaining hospital liens to seek payment for the full amount of the medical services from other sources. Plaintiff has asserted claims for a violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and breach of contract as a third-party beneficiary.

Defendants deny Plaintiff's allegations and deny that they are liable for any wrongdoing. Defendants contend they complied with Arkansas statutory law controlling medical liens, Arkansas insurance regulations, and caselaw from the Arkansas Supreme Court, all of which govern the insurance provider agreements in the lawsuit.

This notice is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, an expression of any opinion of the Court with respect to the truth of the allegations in the Litigation or the merits of the claims or the defenses asserted. The Court has not found any liability on the part of the Defendants, and the Plaintiff must prove the claims at issue. There is no money available now, and there is no guarantee there will be any recovery. This notice is sent to advise you of the pendency of this action and your rights with respect to this action.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE LITIGATION

This Litigation was commenced on July 29, 2016, when Plaintiff Brian Whitley filed a class action petition in state court. The case was later removed to the Federal District Court where the case remains pending.

THE RIGHTS OF CLASS MEMBERS

(a) If you are a member of the Class described above, you have the following options:

(b) If you file a request for exclusion as described in the previous paragraph, your request for exclusion must set forth your name, address and telephone number, and the name and case number of the Litigation, Whitley v. Baptist Health et al, Case No.: 4:16-CV-624 and state a clear intent to be excluded from the litigation. Your request must be postmarked by ________ ___, 2020 [45 days after the date of the notice]. If your request for exclusion is timely mailed, you will be excluded from the Class. If excluded, you will not be bound by the results of the Litigation, and you will also not share in any recovery that benefits the Class. If you do not request exclusion, you will be represented by Plaintiff and their counsel, who have been appointed Class Representative and Class Counsel, respectively, by the Court.

(c) By remaining in the Class, you will not subject yourself to any obligation to pay the costs of the Litigation. With respect to the Class members, all costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees, will be paid from any recovery obtained on behalf of the Class, as such payment may be approved and ordered by the Court. Class Counsel intends to ask the Court that all litigation and administrative expenses, as well as attorneys' fees, be deducted from the total recovery obtained on behalf of the Class, if any. In the event there is no recovery paid to the Class, no Class member will be responsible for paying any litigation or administrative expenses, or attorneys' fees to Class Counsel. You may enter an appearance through an attorney if you so desire.

For a more detailed statement of the matters involved in this Litigation, you may refer to the pleadings and other papers filed in this action, which may be inspected as the Offices of the Clerk, United States District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas — Western Division, Richard Sheppard Arnold United States Courthouse, 500 West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201, during regular business hours each day.

Additional questions pertaining to this litigation may be directed to any of the Co-Lead Class Counsel listed below.