Lawyers battling over claims that a Columbus hospital routinely violates the law by filing inflated liens against uninsured accident victims were peppered with questions by Georgia’s Supreme Court justices pondering whether the use of the standardized billing rates is unreasonable and, if so, whether a class action is the proper remedy.

The plaintiffs—four former patients of The Medical Center—argue that the hospital’s use “chargemaster” rates for billing uninsured patients at rates that are higher than what other patients are charged is a violation of Georgia’s hospital lien statute, which allows providers to bill for “reasonable” charges.