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While a patient pleads for relief from medical bill collectors, hospitals are also feeling the pain

Posted on April 15th, 2009 – 10:59 AM
By James Shiffer

Whistleblower likes to crow about problems that we solve through our reporting. It’s also important to note when that doesn’t happen.

I got another letter this week from Alexandria and David Cody, the couple from Hopkins with no health insurance. After the first letter from the Codys arrived in my mailbox last month, I wrote about how they tried and failed to learn the cost of their health care before the costs were incurred. Park Nicollet is still after them for the $788 from their emergency room visit, so the couple wrote me a second impassioned letter and asked me to share it with Whistleblower readers. Here are some excerpts in which the Codys describe their experience attempting to work through Park Nicollet’s “Financial Assistance” program:

They need to know your entire life history, money in your checking/savings account, the value of your vehicles, etc., etc. If they are truly there to help, why do they need to know your personal financial history?

They go on:

What happened to companies/businesses with a heart? It’s getting their money NOW that important to such a big company? We just want to pay on the account, at our easiest and earliest convenience, but that theory was shot down immediately.

Don’t these people know, no insurance means just that? Are they going out of business because our bill is not paid in a timely fashion?

In closing, we are at wits end here.

No, Park Nicollet isn’t going out of business. But the nonprofit health care company faces the same burden of unpaid bills and charity care that is forcing hospitals to get more aggressive in collecting debts.

It’s interesting to view the letter alongside this week’s news that Allina Hospitals and Clinics will pay $1.1 million to settle a lawsuit by Attorney General Lori Swanson over high interest rates charged to patients with medical debts. In announcing the settlement, even Swanson acknowledged the toll of charity care and the uninsured on hospital budgets. Last year, Allina provided $90.8 million worth of free care, up 56 percent from the year before, my colleague Chen May Yee reports.

So yes, Alexandria and David Cody, the hospitals are feeling the pain, too. Although that’s not likely to do anything about yours.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 at 10:59 am and is filed under Buyer beware, Complaint sagas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

6 Responses to “While a patient pleads for relief from medical bill collectors, hospitals are also feeling the pain”

  1. Susan Says:
    April 16th, 2009 at 11:12 am

    They need to know your financial history to know if you are TRULY unable to pay your bill. Far too many people are claiming poverty when they own expensive cars or other assets that could be sold to pay the bill. Prove that are indeed unable to pay, and they can point you in the right direction for assistance.

  2. Katherine Says:
    April 16th, 2009 at 3:45 pm

    I believe if they are a non profit hospital and you don’t have insurance they can only charge you wanwhat medical asst would have paid. This was something that Mike Hatch had helped get into these hospitals policies. I would check with the Attorney general office on that. Also if you asking for financial assistance they will ask for what you would have to give if you were going on welfare and that is your daily and monthly expenses. They want to make sure that you are not using money that you could use to pay medical bills on luxury items like health club memberships, cable, credit cards at speciality clothing stores, etc. We all need to realize that we need to make cuts on what we need just like the hospitals are making cuts to provide charity care for people that don;t have insurance.

  3. Kris Says:
    April 16th, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    I had a bill I’ve been trying to pay off with them too. It was for
    a couple shots for arthritis so I thought the insurance would cover it.
    But because PN billed it as a surgery procedure (since when is a
    shot surgery?!), the insurance wouldn’t cover it. Sometimes
    the way they bill things out also causes financial problems.

  4. Steve Says:
    April 18th, 2009 at 8:32 am

    Kris brings up a good point.
    Look closely at your bill. Clinics hire people expressly for the purpose of squeezing every cent for billing purposes out of medical visit.
    If they mis-billed, bring it to their attention. If they don’t change it, take them to small claimes court!

  5. Robert Says:
    April 18th, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    I had catastrophic insurance once and the insurance
    company tricked me into paying for a hernia operation
    out of pocket ($5000,) and terminated my policy for
    non-payment!( I was paying the hospital)They sold me a
    lifetime benefit. Turns out that means ONCE in a
    lifetime benefit. Everything after that was a
    pre-existing condition. We need single payer!
    Chile was smart enough to figure this (a good single
    payer system) out in 1938.

  6. Anita Says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 3:13 pm

    Let’s keep in mind this is the same business office where all of the managers promoted themselves to directors, took 20 to 30 thousand dollar annual increases, hired new managers under them and then laid off the staff who actually did the work. You wonder about these bad business practices? Look at the so called “leaders” in the business office. They all should be ashamed of themselves. Heard of Enron? I’d compare them but the Park Nicollet leaders
    are not that bright…

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