Press Release
CSS Commends Northwell Health for Halting Lawsuits During the Pandemic
The Community Service Society (CSS) commends Northwell Health for promising to stop suing patients for medical debt during the pandemic and agreeing to discontinue the over 2,000 lawsuits it initiated between March and December 2020. We urge the other 42 charitable hospitals, responsible for at least 2,575 cases in 2020, to likewise discontinue their cases against patients. New York State officials, Governor Cuomo, and the State Legislature should act quickly to protect future patients by enacting the Patient Medical Debt Protection Act that would bar charitable hospitals from charging nine percent commercial interest rates and improve patient billing transparency.
Recent CSS research revealed that more than 4,000 New Yorkers have been sued by 55 different hospitals since the pandemic started, 13 of which are affiliated with Northwell Health. All of these hospitals – like all hospitals in New York State – are non-profit charities that receive tax benefits and billions in state support. Medical debt lawsuits are devastating for patients. New Yorkers are experiencing massive job losses and reductions in income as a result of the economic contraction created by the pandemic. Court judgements resulting from their need to access medical care may put many families past the breaking point. Medical debt also disproportionately affects communities of color. For example, 41 percent of people of color have medical debt in Syracuse, compared to 12 percent of white residents. Similar disparities exist throughout New York State.
The Patient Medical Debt Protection Act was introduced last year by Assemblymember Richard Gottfried and Senator Gustavo Rivera (S6757A/A8639A). Medical debt is a pernicious and systemic problem for New Yorkers. In the five years before the pandemic, well over 40,000 patients had been sued by New York hospitals. The Patient Medical Debt Protection Act would take many steps to eliminate unfair medical debt. This includes making hospitals provide one clear comprehensive bill for all services provided at a hospital, ensuring that all eligible New Yorkers receive the financial assistance hospitals are required to provide according to state law, and holding consumers harmless for surprise out-of-network bills caused by plan misinformation. It would also cap the interest rate on medical debt judgements at the U.S. Treasury rate to protect patients from the nine percent commercial rates some hospitals attached to lawsuit damages.