Our new national motto
 

Debt Collector Is Faulted for Tough Tactics in Hospitals


In November, Marcia Newton was shocked when she was forced to pay for
her son Maxx’s ear tube surgery at Fairview Hospital even before he went
into the hospital room.

One of the nation’s largest medical debt-collection companies is under
fire in Minnesota for having placed its employees in emergency rooms and
other departments at two hospitals and demanding that patients pay
before receiving treatment, according to documents released Tuesday by
the Minnesota attorney general. The documents say the company also used
patient health records to wrangle for more money on overdue bills.

The company, Accretive Health, has contracts not only with the two
hospitals cited in Minnesota but also with some of the largest hospital
systems in the country, including Henry Ford Health System in Michigan
and Intermountain Healthcare in Utah. Since January, it has faced a
civil lawsuit filed by Attorney General Lori Swanson of Minnesota
alleging that it violated state and federal debt-collection laws and
patient privacy protections.

Ms. Swanson, though not bringing further charges on Tuesday, said she
was in discussions with state and federal regulators to prompt a
widespread crackdown on Accretive Health’s practices in other states.

“I have every reason to believe that what they are doing in Minnesota is
simply company practice,” she said in an interview, but declined to be
more specific.

An Accretive Health spokeswoman declined to comment on whether other
states were looking into its practices. “We have a great track record of
helping hospitals enhance their quality of care,” she said.

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