Florida hospital under investigation for price gouging, governor says

Larkin Community Hospital in Hialeah, Fla., is being investigated for price gouging after it reportedly charged individuals $150 for COVID-19 tests, according to TV station WSVN.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who asked the state's attorney general to launch the investigation into the for-profit hospital, said the $150 fee "is not acceptable," according to CBS Miami.

"There always seems to be people who want to use unfortunate circumstances someone finds themselves in, for their own personal gain or business gain," the governor said at a March 27 press briefing, according to CBS Miami. "And unfortunately, we are seeing that here with this virus."   

Larkin Community Hospital CEO Jack Michel, MD, who confirmed the hospital does charge $150 for the COVID-19 test, told CBS Miami that no one from the state had contacted him when he heard the governor's comments. Dr. Michel said he would contact the attorney general's office and cooperate in any investigation.

"If they believe this is something illegal, then we will stop doing it," he told CBS Miami. "If we need to shut it down, we'll shut it down. But we hope we don't have to. We need to test more people."

Access the full article from WSVN here.

Access the full article from CBS Miami here.  

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