Many hospitals in the United States use aggressive tactics to collect medical debt. They flood local courts with collections lawsuits. They garnish patients’ wages. They seize their tax refunds.
But a wealthy nonprofit health system in the Midwest is among those taking things a step further: withholding care from patients who have unpaid medical bills.
Allina Health System, which runs more than 100 hospitals and clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin and brings in $4 billion a year in revenue, sometimes rejects patients who are deep in debt, according to internal documents and interviews with doctors, nurses and patients.
I was under the impression that part of the high cost for medical is having to cover those who couldn't pay because they're not allowed to reject anyone.
I was under the impression that part of the high cost for medical is having to cover those who couldn't pay because they're not allowed to reject anyone.
Non-paywalled Archive.is link.
Rephrehensible. Further signs of an utterly broken system.
I was under the impression that part of the high cost for medical is having to cover those who couldn't pay because they're not allowed to reject anyone.
For emergency care, yes. I don't think that has ever been true for non-emergent care.
I'm kind of surprised any hospitals accepted people with outstanding debt in the first place for non emergencies.
I mean, aside from the moral issues at hand?
This is exactly why I expected hospitals to be doing this already. I have very low expectations for doctors nowadays.
Meanwhile in Ontario Rob Fords Brother is licking his lips reading about rejecting poor people