Hospitals Sued Thousands of Patients In North Carolina for Unpaid Bills, Report: Property Liens [View all]

- Hospitals sued thousands of patients in North Carolina for unpaid bills, report finds, NPR, Aug. 16, 2023. Ed. 🥼

North Carolina hospitals — led by the state's largest public medical system — have sued thousands of their patients since 2017, according to a new analysis that sheds additional light on the aggressive tactics U.S. hospitals routinely use to collect from people who fall behind on their bills.

The report, produced by the state treasurer and Duke University School of Law researchers, and related patient interviews offer harrowing accounts of people pursued for tens of thousands of dollars and often surprised by liens that hospitals placed on family homes. In some cases, spouses were targeted after their partners died.

In others, patients interviewed by researchers said they'd been surprised to learn about property liens only after they tried to sell their homes or after a parent who owned the home died. "I know my house will never be mine. It is going to be the hospital's," said Donna Lindabury, 70, whose home was targeted by Charlotte-based Atrium Health, which won a $192,000 judgment against her and her 79-year-old husband over his 2009 heart surgery.

Interest on the debt represented more than half of the couple's balance. Lindabury said the hospital originally told them they could get assistance with the bills, but then denied their applications for aid. "People, where their God is money, they just don't care," she told researchers.. Nationwide, about 100 million people — 41% of adults — have some form of health care debt...

- Read More, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/16/1194037110/hospitals-sued-thousands-of-patients-in-north-carolina-for-unpaid-bills-report-f