Why Hundreds of Hospitals Are Suddenly Suing Their Patients
Everyone dreads going to the hospital. On the surface, it means something serious has occurred in your life. But, what makes a trip to the hospital even more nerve-wracking is the news that some hospitals are suing patients.
The astronomical cost of medical bills is no secret. Most adults have gotten hit with at least one sizable bill. Perhaps you are still paying one off.
Invoices that arrive after a stint in the hospital are even worse than the standard doctor or lab bills. The total at the bottom is rather jaw-dropping at times. And that fact has led to serious concerns over the shocking amount of medical debt plaguing Americans.
However, as bad as that is, the situation gets even worse for some patients. Hospitals struggle to collect unpaid balances. So many have turned to shady collection practices.
NPR took a deep dive into some of those collection tactics uncovered by a KHN investigation. That investigation found rampant use of aggressive and threatening hospital policies pressuring patients to pay their debts. Some of those are “tactics such as lawsuits, selling patient accounts to debt buyers, and reporting patients to credit rating agencies.”
But one of the most shocking policies KHN found was that many hospitals began suing patients. During the investigation, KHN examined various documents, policies, interviews, and email and telephone inquiries from 528 hospitals. Over two-thirds of the policies examined approved of hospitals suing patients or pursuing additional legal actions.
However, perhaps even more shocking is the news that some of the nation’s top hospitals have a related policy. “This includes half the hospitals earning top spots on the U.S. News & World Report’s annual scorecard — medical centers such as the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and Massachusetts General Hospital.” But the prestigious hospitals are not alone.
Even public university hospitals are suing patients. Systems in 23 states can sue patients that are behind on bill payments. Those include Tennessee, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Georgia.
However, at least three other states have procedures to refer patients to external agencies for legal action. Some will even withhold tax refunds. And many major non-profit hospitals, like Trinity Health, Kaiser Permanente, and Northwell Health, take similar legal recourse.
But the motivation behind hospitals suing patients is unclear. “Hospitals with policies allowing them to sue patients tend to have only slightly higher profits than those that don’t sue, KHN found by comparing financial data that hospitals submit annually to the federal government.” So, it seems there isn’t enough financial motivation for the policies to stand.
Of course, numerous hospital spokespeople claim they rarely take patients to court, even if the policy permits such action. And on the surface, that is good news. However, with those policies still in place, hospitals can take devastating legal action against patients.
There are some very vocal opponents to these shady collection practices. And they are pushing heavily for some form of federal intervention. The hope is to eventually prevent hospitals from suing patients or taking other drastic collection steps that ultimately harm patients.
