Hey, it’s the BEST time to support this show with a donation. Thanks to NewsMatch, any gift you make, up to $1,000, will be doubled. It’s a great deal, and it will set us up to kick maximum butt in 2024. Here’s the link, go for it!
We’ve been working on this investigation all year, with our partners at Scripps News and the Baltimore Banner.
For years, we’ve been hearing about hospitals suing patients over unpaid medical bills – sometimes even in bulk, by the hundreds or thousands at a time.
Many of the patients getting sued are already facing financial hardship, or like one couple we interviewed, already in bankruptcy.
Judgments against patients in these suits can be life changing. But according to experts, these lawsuits don’t recoup a ton of lost revenue for hospitals. So why do they happen? And what if hospitals stopped doing it completely?
In this episode, we talk to a former sales rep for a medical-debt collections agency — who now steers hospitals away from efforts to collect money, via lawsuits or other means, from folks who just don’t have it.
He tells hospitals: This is better for your bottom line.
Stay tuned for part two, coming in two weeks.
… and to preview some of what’s in it — plus a whole lot more excellent reporting — check out the Baltimore Banner’s story: Maryland hospitals stopped suing patients with unpaid bills. Will they start again?
This series is produced in partnership with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
… and supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
OOH: And don’t forget. It’s prime time to make a donation and support this show.
Here’s a transcript of this episode.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We’re digging into “facility fees.” We need your help.
The Hack
Son of Medicare: Attack of the Machines
The Medicare Episode
Wait, is insulin cheaper now?
Self defense 101: Keeping your cool while you fight
One last tip before 2024
When hospitals sue patients (part 2)
To get health insurance, this couple made a movie
“Your Money or Your Life”: Dr. Luke Messac’s book on the history of medical debt
Paging Dr. Glaucomflecken: Presenting “The Nocturnists - Conversations: Will & Kristin Flanary (The Glaucomfleckens)”
John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (part 2)
John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (part 1)
Something's coming, something good.
How to Get a Surprise Bill on Your Way to the Hospital
Wait, what’s a PBM (and how do they work)?
Credit Card, Please
A ‘payday loan’ from a health care behemoth
Mental health ‘ghost networks’ — and a ghost-buster
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Freakonomics Radio
Criminal
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World