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   From: leroysoetoro@americans-first.com   
      
   https://amac.us/newsline/society/report-hospitals-hiding-prices-using-   
   third-parties-to-sue-patients/   
      
   A new report has exposed in shocking detail how hospitals are suing   
   patients over medical debt through “stealth intermediaries” – while also   
   massively overcharging for services ranging from routine blood tests to   
   major surgeries.   
      
   The study from PatientRightsAdvocate.org in partnership with George   
   Washington University and Stanford University School of Medicine   
   specifically examined the practices of UCHealth, a large nonprofit   
   hospital system with 14 hospitals in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska.   
      
   According to the report’s findings, UCHealth brought more than 15,700   
   medical debt lawsuits using aggressive “debt-seeking middlemen” to hide   
   its responsibility in targeting patients. In some cases, patients’ wages   
   were garnished for hospital bills they had never even seen in full. In   
   others, bank accounts were seized.   
      
   As KFF Health News has reported, roughly 100 million Americans are   
   currently in debt due to medical costs, the nation’s leading cause of   
   personal bankruptcy.   
      
   Many patients were unaware that the entities suing them were connected to   
   the hospital that had provided their care, believing they were dealing   
   with debt collection firms, not the original medical providers. UCHealth’s   
   third-party arrangement, while technically legal, shielded the group from   
   public scrutiny and allowed the hospital to distance itself from the   
   uncompromising tactics used to collect payment.   
      
   But what may not be legal is UCHealth’s failure to provide patients with   
   an itemized bill explaining the charges before legal action was taken. In   
   January 2021, a landmark Trump administration rule took effect requiring   
   hospitals to publish their prices online in a clear, consumer-friendly   
   format. The goal was simple: empower patients with the information they   
   need to make informed health care choices.   
      
   But under the Biden administration, enforcement of the rule stalled. As a   
   result, compliance has been inconsistent. The analysis by Patient Rights   
   Advocate revealed that only 36 percent of U.S. hospitals are fully   
   adhering to the transparency requirements. UCHealth, notably, was not   
   among them.   
      
   One case in the study and reported by NBC News last month involves Blake,   
   a 63 year-old Colorado resident sued by UCHealth for more than $100,000   
   following emergency surgery. He sought clarity on the bill but got   
   nowhere. After reaching out to Patient Rights Advocate, they discovered   
   that the charges were far higher than the amounts the hospital listed   
   under federal price transparency rules. Only a quarter of the charges   
   showed up at all on the hospital’s required price list.   
      
   “For years, UCHealth has hidden their prices then unaccountably sued   
   Colorado patients through intermediaries over unpaid bills,” said Cynthia   
   Fisher, founder and chairman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org, in a statement   
   provided to AMAC Newsline. “Without price transparency and itemized bills,   
   these patients have no way to verify hospital charges are legitimate and   
   not the result of overbilling or fraud.”   
      
   This practice is not merely a UCHealth problem. Other hospital systems and   
   health care providers have been accused of using similar tactics. In the   
   absence of robust federal enforcement of price transparency rules over the   
   years, it appears a majority of U.S. medical care institutions could be   
   intentionally hiding pricing information from patients.   
      
   Thanks to advocacy groups like Patient Rights Advocate and recent   
   developments at the state and federal level, however, hospitals are being   
   forced into compliance with transparency rules. Shortly after President   
   Donald Trump took office earlier this year, he issued a new executive   
   order directing federal agencies to enforce full price transparency,   
   requiring hospitals and insurers to disclose actual prices, not vague   
   estimates.   
      
   Earlier this month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also announced   
   a formal inquiry into several hospital systems. The probe, conducted via   
   subpoenas issued to entities such as Southern Baptist Health of Florida   
   and AdventHealth, focuses on potential violations of both state and   
   federal pricing-disclosure statutes.   
      
   Uthmeier emphasized that “patients are still consumers, and they deserve   
   transparency,” accusing hospitals of predatory billing practices and   
   failure to publicly post standard service prices. The investigation   
   follows findings from Patient Rights Advocate revealing that only about 29   
   percent of Florida’s hospitals met federal transparency requirements, with   
   even fewer providing substantive, actionable pricing data.   
      
   High-profile billing controversies in the Sunshine State, such as a 2021   
   case involving an AdventHealth patient billed over $500,000 for the birth   
   of her child, later reduced to around $300, have underscored the lack of   
   accountability in the system. Uthmeier framed his enforcement effort as a   
   state-level execution of Trump’s executive order.   
      
   Rising health care costs continue to burden American seniors, with a   
   growing number of advocacy groups like Patient Rights Advocate and AMAC   
   Action urging stronger enforcement of hospital price transparency laws.   
   Momentum is also building for regulation of hospitals utilizing third-   
   party entities to file lawsuits against patients without providing clear   
   billing documentation or an opportunity to verify charges.   
      
   For older Americans, the consequences of unclear pricing and aggressive   
   billing tactics are especially severe. Fisher told AMAC Newsline that   
   these serious consumer protection issues cannot be ignored. “No court   
   should issue potentially financially devastating judgments over a bill   
   that’s erroneous or whose underlying prices can’t be proven appropriate,”   
   she said.   
      
   Advocacy groups like Patient Rights Advocate have played a critical role   
   in bringing these issues to light and prompting action at both the state   
   and federal levels. From executive orders to attorney general   
   investigations, recent developments suggest that sustained public pressure   
   can drive meaningful reform. But whether these efforts lead to lasting   
   change will depend on continued enforcement and a renewed commitment to   
   transparency from healthcare institutions nationwide.   
      
      
   --   
   November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump.  We look   
   forward to America being great again.   
      
   We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that   
   stupid people won't be offended.   
      
   Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.   
      
   Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama   
   / Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.   
      
   Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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