Minnesota attorney general Mike Hatch's pursuit of one non-profit hospital system has forced that hospital to agree to stop using aggressive debt-collection tactics. (See Star Tribune story of April 2.)
At the Association of Health Care Journalists conference in Chapel Hill, NC this weekend, an attorney talked about 70 lawsuits in 27 states, all questioning the nonprofit tax-exempt status granted some hospitals that he claims "are grossly abusing their tax-exempt status and meting out mere pennies on the dollar, if anything at all, in charity care." Attorney Chip Robertson said some hospitals use "aggressive, abusive, thug-like collection practices." Information on the class action lawsuits is available at www.nfplitigation.com.
Posted by schwitz at April 3, 2005 09:58 AM