Fifty-six nonprofit hospitals in New York placed liens on 4,880 patients' homes in 2017 and 2018 over unpaid medical bills, according to a Nov. 10 report from Community Service Society.
The report, the fourth in a series examining medical debt collection practices by New York hospitals, uses data reported by hospitals to the New York health department. The data from 2017 to 2018 is the most recent available.
Four key findings from the report:
1. Most hospitals, 133 of the 189 that submit data to the health department, never placed liens on their patients' homes.
2. Of the 56 that reported engaging in the practice, St. Peter’s Health Partners in Albany placed the most liens on patients' homes with 955, followed by New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, which placed 830 liens on patients' homes. Together, these two systems accounted for 37 percent of the liens hospitals placed in 2017 and 2018.
3. The practice of securing liens against patients homes is rare in the five boroughs of New York City, except for Manhattan, which had 40.
4. The practice of securing liens against patients' homes is most widespread in hospitals in Albany and Suffolk counties.
Access the full report here.