A U.S. senator is looking at how tax-exempt nonprofit hospitals collect unpaid medical bills amid recent news reports about the practices used at these organizations, according to Kaiser Health News.
Various news outlets have reported on debt-collection efforts by nonprofit entities and lawsuits they file against patients, including the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville; Richmond-based Virginia Commonwealth University Health System; and Memphis, Tenn.-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.
A special report published Sept. 9 in The Washington Post revealed UVA Health System sued thousands of former patients, seized wages and put liens on homes. The special report, which highlighted a KHN analysis, found that the health system and its physicians sued former patients more than 36,000 times for about $106 million over a six-year period ending in June 2018.
Now Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has sent a letter to Pamela M. Sutton-Wallace, acting executive vice president for health affairs at UVA Health System and CEO of UVA Medical Center, seeking information about UVA Health System's financial assistance policies and debt-collection practices, according to KHN.
The senator said he wants to know how patients' bills get as high as they do and how much the organization provides in charity care. Charity care falls under the IRS community benefit standard tax-exempt nonprofit hospitals must meet to keep their tax status.
"Unfortunately, I have seen a variety of news reports lately discussing what appear to be relentless debt-collection efforts by tax-exempt hospitals, including UVA Health System," Mr. Grassley, whose committee has power in the Senate over federal taxation matters, wrote. "These efforts raise questions about how UVA Health System and other tax-exempt hospitals are complying with" U.S. tax code requirements.
The senator asked that UVA Health System respond to his questions by Nov. 19.
UVA Health System spokesperson Eric Swensen told KHN the health system will review the letter, and "look[s] forward to working with Sen. Grassley to respond to his questions and share with him the policy changes we have announced and started implementing over the past month to better serve our patients."
Read the full letter here.
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