Cynthia Hom, a vice president of one of the firms who performed that independent analysis, said the company had performed an analysis but directed further comment to Silverstein. He declined to provide the name of the other company, citing a nondisclosure agreement.

He said it appears that tribal members have been uniquely targeted by SageWest for higher billing. He said he works with tribes in 20 states and that SageWest’s billing is uniquely “egregious.”

“This correlates with the acquisition by Apollo,” he said of the price increases. “They are now asking the tribe for more money, above and beyond what the plan was traditionally paid and above and beyond what SageWest has accepted from the tribe for years.”

Eric Kuo, who works for a public relations firm hired by Apollo, declined to comment and directed questions to LifePoint after the Star-Tribune sent him the tribe’s statement. In turn, Michelle Augusty, LifePoint’s vice president for communications, directed comment to SageWest itself.

In a statement sent in response to detailed questions from the Star-Tribune, SageWest’s marketing director Lindsey Anderson said the hospital was not aware of any billing errors and that it expected the tribe to pay “many patient claims that have not been paid to date.”