Hospitals Earn Little From Suing For Unpaid Bills. For Patients, It Can Be ‘Ruinous’

(By Selena Simmons-Duffin for NPR)

The Fredericksburg General District Court is a red-brick courthouse with Greek columns in a picturesque, Colonial Virginia town. A horse and carriage are usually parked outside the visitor center down the street.

On a sunny morning — the second Friday in June — the first defendant at court is a young woman, Daisha Smith, 24, who arrives early; she has just come off working an overnight shift at a group home for the elderly. She is here because the local hospital sued her for an unpaid medical bill — a bill she didn’t know she owed until her wages started disappearing out of her paycheck.

The hospital, Mary Washington, sues so many patients that the court reserves a morning every month for its cases.  Continue reading article here…

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