When an uninsured neighbor had to take a second mortgage and borrow from relatives to pay his $106,000 hospital bill, state Sen. Robert Ford says he learned that uninsured patients are charged three to six times more than those with insurance for the same service.

"I knew you paid more. I didn't know it was up to three to six times more," he said. "That's extremely unfair and unjust."

So the Charleston Democrat, along with Republican Sen. Jake Knotts, introduced a bill recently that would require hospitals to charge the same prices to the uninsured as they charge the insured.

Hospitals in the Upstate say that prices are the same for all patients, although insurance companies negotiate lower rates for their members, and that additional discounts are available to uninsured patients who pay within a certain time frame. These policies are consistent with industry practices, hospitals say.

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Furthermore, they say they provide millions of dollars worth of charity care every year.

And while the South Carolina Hospital Association has no position on Ford's bill yet, spokeswoman Patti Smoake says uninsured patients typically pay just 3 percent to 5 percent of what they're charged.

Keith Elder, assistant professor of health services policy and management at the University of South Carolina, says that if prices were lower for uninsured patients, many of whom work, it's likely hospitals would recoup more of their fees.

"Since most uninsured folks are low-income," he said, "they'd be better able to pay if the bill was smaller."

And if patients were better able to pay their bills, he said, their credit ratings wouldn't be tarnished.

"A large percentage of bankruptcies are attributed to health-care costs," Elder said. "And if costs for the uninsured in this state would be in on par with insured, we may see a smaller number of bankruptcies."

Area hospitals said it's too early to comment on the bill, S-1254.

The idea of more equitable charges merits consideration, said Mary Hassett, vice president of strategic initiatives for Bon Secours St. Francis Health System. But she said more time is needed to review details of the bill.

"This bill is still in the early stages, with many legislative hurdles yet to go through," said Greenville Hospital System spokeswoman Sandy Dees. "It would be premature for us to comment on it until the bill's in its final form."

AnMed Health spokesman Dan Corrigan said hospital officials need time to review the bill, and a spokeswoman for Palmetto Health Alliance hospitals said officials are studying the bill and would have no comment until they understand its implications.

Officials at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System could not be reached for comment.

More than 45 million Americans are uninsured, and at least 41,000 live in Greenville County, according to the Community Health Alliance.

Smoake said health care for the uninsured is an issue that hospitals are concerned about, and that society needs to address.

"Health care for the uninsured is a tremendous problem," she said, "a problem that's going to take all parties working together to resolve it."

Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed against South Carolina hospitals in 2004 alleging that these pricing practices are discriminatory is moving toward trial, according to English McCutchen, of the Columbia law firm McCutchen Blanton Johnson & Barnette, which filed a suit on behalf of uninsured patients.

Hospitals have said that suit is without merit.

Ford says he believes his bill, which now goes to the Senate Medical Affairs Committee, has widespread support.

"In South Carolina, if you work for yourself or on a job that doesn't offer insurance -- which is about 32 percent of the workers -- there's no way you can afford health insurance," he said.