![]() Joseph Health, which is based in King County. All 14 of the hospitals operate under the national nonprofit health system Providence St. ![]() Providence Health & Services Washington’s eight non-profit locations include: Non-profit Swedish Health Services operates two hospitals in Seattle, as well as facilities in Ballard, Issaquah and Edmonds. If you paid for medical services or are in collections for a medical bill from a Providence or Swedish hospital or Kadlec Regional Medical Center, and believe you may be eligible for charity care, contact Attorney General’s Office Investigator Bau Vang at 20 or by email at conduct runs contrary to their mission The total number of Consumer Protection Act violations will be determined as the case progresses. In addition to the $70 million in debt relief and refunds, Ferguson is also seeking millions of dollars in civil penalties. The lawsuit seeks restitution in the form of full write-off of medical debts, and refunds, plus interest, for patients who did not receive financial assistance. They must follow the law, and ensure low-income patients have access to the resources they need.” “Hospitals cannot deceive Washingtonians about their legal right to access medical financial assistance. “Charity care helps low-income families avoid crushing medical debt by making financial assistance available to those who qualify,” Ferguson said. Ferguson launched the investigation after receiving complaints about Swedish’s charity care practices. This is the third major lawsuit Ferguson has filed related to charity care. A Providence financial executive admitted in a deposition in November that the hospitals continue to send patients eligible for financial assistance to collections. Much of their conduct continues to this day, the lawsuit asserts, despite the Attorney General’s Office investigation and previous lawsuits Ferguson has filed against other hospitals over similar practices. ![]() The hospitals’ illegal conduct began in 2018. Moreover, under its own charity care policies that Providence promoted, these patients should have been eligible for full write-offs of their medical debt. Under Washington’s current charity care law, those patients were eligible for discounts on their bills. These 54,000 patient accounts totaled more than $70 million. And sending more than 54,000 patient accounts to debt collection, despite knowing the patients were eligible for financial assistance.Failing to notify patients they were eligible for charity care financial assistance when the providers determined they qualified for assistance.Providence instructed employees: “don’t accept the first no” Training employees to aggressively collect payment without regard for a patient’s eligibility for financial assistance, instructing them to use a specific script when communicating with patients that gives patients the impression that they are expected to pay for their care.Together, these hospitals reported more than $18 billion in patient service revenues in 2020.įerguson’s lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, asserts that these hospitals committed thousands of Consumer Protection Act violations, including: ![]() Swedish’s location at First Hill is the largest hospital in the state with over 800 beds. In their communities, many of the hospitals are either the largest, or the only hospital in their area. The hospitals are located around the state, from Seattle to Spokane, Walla Walla to Everett. The protections apply to both insured and uninsured patients. Washington’s charity care law protects low-income Washingtonians from out-of-pocket hospital costs. SEATTLE - Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today a consumer protection lawsuit against five Swedish hospitals and nine Providence-affiliated facilities for failing to ensure that eligible low-income Washingtonians receive the discounts to which they are legally entitled, and aggressively collecting money from charity care eligible low-income Washingtonians.įerguson will also file a motion for preliminary injunction unless the hospitals agree to stop their conduct while the case is ongoing. Providence hospitals sent to collections more than 50,000 accounts of charity care eligible patients
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