9 Investigates: Atrium says it recently stopped suing patients over medical debt

NORTH CAROLINA — Channel 9 learned that in the past year, Atrium Health has stopped suing patients for medical debt.

Reporter Dan Matics first started investigating two months ago, when a Duke University study showed hospitals have sued thousands of families for outstanding debt. Matics also learned there are efforts to prevent hospitals in North Carolina from ever taking these cases to court.

When Terry Belk’s late wife, Sandra, came down with breast cancer in 2003 and the medical bills started piling up, figuring out how to pay them was the least of their concerns.

“We weren’t worried about all of that, we were just worried about treatment and getting her better,” he said. “After it was all said and done, they came for all of the rest of the money the insurance company didn’t pay.”

Belk said he worked part-time to care for his wife, but he couldn’t afford the payments and fell behind. He says in 2012 -- five months before his wife died -- Atrium Health sued them and put a lien on their home.

At the same time, Belk had his own battle with prostate cancer. He said Atrium sued him again in 2022 for those bills.

“It makes your life a living hell,” Belk said.

“They came at me with interest plus the principal balance,” he added.

Belk doesn’t think unpaid medical bills should wind up in the court system, even as a last resort.

Research from Duke University and the state treasurer’s office shows hospitals have sued thousands of patients and their families since 2017.

“They are using the courts as a collection agency,” Belk said.

Atrium Health didn’t give us an interview about the practice of suing patients, but told Channel 9 Friday they stopped filing liens for unpaid debts in November 2022, prior to its merger with another healthcare system.

“I’m hopeful that the bill in the General Assembly will pass in some way that will alleviate some of the stress that’s on people, that these hospitals are bringing,” he said.

The North Carolina bill he is talking about would limit the circumstances in which any hospital could sue patients and cap interest rates on unpaid debt.

The bill, called the “Medical Debt De-Weaponization Act,” has made little progress. The North Carolina Hospital Association has lobbied against it, saying, “hospitals do not weaponize medical debt. That allegation is political grandstanding and we think consumers see through it.”

The group said there are already federal laws in place that make debt collection a last resort.

For now, Belk is making court-ordered payments to prevent the court from seizing his assets.

“It’s very embarrassing. It’s very draining,” he said.

Atrium Health said Friday they made the change as part of their journey to make healthcare more affordable. We followed up with them to ask what this means for any outstanding lawsuits against patients.

Novant Health said it hasn’t sued patients in nearly 25 years.

Atrium Health’s full statement is below:

“Atrium Health is continuously evaluating how we can best serve our patients and ensure equity in access to high quality care for all members of our communities. As part of our journey in making health care more affordable, and in advance of our combination, we stopped filing liens in November 2022 as a means of collecting unpaid debts owed by patients. As part of the third-largest nonprofit health system in the country, we are working to align and unify our policies throughout our enterprise to offer best-in-class financial assistance programs for those most at risk the communities we serve. We expect to have more specific details in the months ahead.”

North Carolina Healthcare Association’s statement:

“Hospitals do not weaponize medical debt. That allegation is political grandstanding and we think consumers see through it.

“North Carolina health systems and hospitals are focused on helping people to heal and live healthy lives. They handled more than 16 million inpatient and outpatient patient visits in 2022.

“Hospitals do more than any other part of the healthcare field to assist vulnerable patients. Their doors are always open, regardless of an individual’s ability to pay. Hospital employees strive to help patients understand their insurance coverage and their financial obligations. They make a variety of payment options and financial assistance programs available. In addition, healthcare providers have rights to be paid (reimbursed) for the care they deliver to patients. Like any business, they need to be able to pay employees and keep their operations going to benefit local communities.

“In our view, the bill you are referring to is unnecessary. Federal law already addresses several requirements in the bill. For example, in the event of an unpaid bill, the IRS has prescribed an extensive series of steps and wait times that hospitals must follow before taking any collection actions, which is a last resort. In addition, the General Assembly passed legislation in 2013 that addresses many of the state-specific issues related to fair billing and collections practices.

“You asked about the focus of our lobbying efforts. Our efforts focus on promoting policies to make high quality healthcare equitable and accessible for all. In this and recent sessions, our focus has been on urging the General Assembly to expand Medicaid so that 600,000 more people can get access to health insurance. (Studies have shown that uninsured adults, Black and Hispanic adults, women and individuals with lower incomes are especially likely to say that they have healthcare related debt.) In addition, we advocated for the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program, a key component of the funding mechanism for Medicaid expansion that will also help financially struggling rural hospitals.”

Statement from a spokesperson for Novant Health:

“Filing lawsuits against patients for non-payment was common practice among hospital systems many decades ago. Novant Health’s policy to not take legal or judicial action against a patient for non-payment has been in place for almost 25 years.”

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