{"id":1387,"date":"2023-06-15T09:44:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T09:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=1387"},"modified":"2023-06-15T09:45:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T09:45:04","slug":"international-rights-group-calls-out-us-for-allowing-hospitals-to-push-millions-into-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=1387","title":{"rendered":"International Rights Group Calls Out US for Allowing Hospitals to Push Millions Into Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\tNoam N. Levey<\/span><\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch, the nonprofit that for decades has called attention to the victims of war, famine, and political repression around the world, is taking aim at U.S. hospitals for pushing millions of American patients into debt.<\/p>\n

In a new report<\/a>, published June 15, the group calls for stronger government action to protect Americans from aggressive billing and debt collection by nonprofit hospitals, which Human Rights Watch said are systematically undermining patients\u2019 human rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the high prevalence of hospital-related medical debt in the US, this system is clearly not working,\u201d concludes the report, which draws extensively on an ongoing investigation<\/a> of medical debt by KFF Health News and NPR.<\/p>\n

The report continues: \u201cThe US model of subsidizing privately operated hospitals with tax exemptions in the hope that they will increase the accessibility of hospital care for un- and underinsured patients allows for abusive medical billing and debt collection practices and undermines human rights, including the right to health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nationwide, about 100 million people \u2014 or 41% of adults \u2014 have some form of health care debt, a KFF survey conducted for the KFF Health News-NPR project found. And while patient debt is being driven by a range of medical and dental bills, polls and studies suggest hospitals are a major contributor.<\/p>\n

About a third of U.S. adults with health care debt owed money for hospitalization, KFF\u2019s polling found. Close to half of those owed at least $5,000. About a quarter owed $10,000 or more.<\/p>\n

The scale of this crisis \u2014 which is unparalleled among wealthy nations \u2014 compelled Human Rights Watch to release the new report, said researcher Matt McConnell, its author. \u201cHistorically, Human Rights Watch has been an organization that has focused on international human rights issues,\u201d he said. \u201cBut on medical debt, the U.S. is a real outlier. What you see is a system that privileges a few but creates large barriers to people accessing basic health rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hospital industry officials defend their work, citing hospitals\u2019 broader work to help the communities they serve. \u201cAs a field, hospitals provide more benefit to their communities than any other sector in health care,\u201d Melinda Hatton, general counsel at the American Hospital Association, wrote in a response to the Human Right Watch report.<\/p>\n

Federal law requires private, tax-exempt hospitals \u2014 which make up more than half the nation\u2019s medical centers \u2014 to provide care at no cost or at a discount to low-income patients. But reporting by KFF Health News and others has found that many hospitals make this aid difficult for patients to get.<\/p>\n

At the same time, thousands of medical centers \u2014 including many tax-exempt ones \u2014 engage in aggressive debt collection tactics to pursue patients, including garnishing patients\u2019 wages, placing liens on their homes, or selling their debt to third-party debt collectors.<\/p>\n

Overall, KFF Health News found<\/a> that most of the nation\u2019s approximately 5,100 hospitals serving the general public have policies to use legal action or other aggressive tactics against patients. And 1 in 5 will deny nonemergency care to people with outstanding debt.<\/p>\n

\u201cMedical debt is drowning many low-income and working families while hospitals continue to benefit from nonprofit tax status as they pursue families for medical debt,\u201d said Marceline White, executive director of Economic Action Maryland. The advocacy group has helped enact tighter rules to ensure Maryland hospitals make financial assistance more easily accessible and to restrict hospitals from some aggressive debt collection tactics, such as placing liens on patients\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n

Similar efforts are underway in other states, including Colorado, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington. But many patient and consumer advocates say stronger federal action is needed to expand patient protections.<\/p>\n

The Human Rights Watch report \u2014 titled \u201cIn Sheep\u2019s Clothing: United States\u2019 Poorly Regulated Nonprofit Hospitals Undermine Health Care Access\u201d \u2014 lists more than a dozen recommendations. These include:<\/p>\n