Bankruptcy Indiana

It hasn't been difficult to diagnose medical bankruptcy, the fastest-growing of all types. One leading cause: hospitals turning accounts over to outside collection agencies.

As a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, I was gratified to learn that one of our local hospitals is trying to reverse the trend.  St. Vincent Health (part of Catholic hospital company Ascension Health) is making four changes to try to deal more compassionately with patients' debt:
 

• No longer charging interest on patient debt
   
• No longer turning over accounts to collection agencies within a month or two of the payment being late
   
• Calling patients to set up payment plans (Very important: These plans do not involve garnishing of wages or negative reports to credit bureaus.)
   
• Writing off more balances as charity care

According to the Indianapolis Star, other local hospitals who continue to use outside collection agencies include Clarian, Wishard, Community Health Network, and St. Francis.  These hospitals do provide discounts to the uninsured, The Star points out, but not the deeper discounts that insurance companies are able to negotiate.

I've written before in my Indiana bankruptcy blogs about the fact that medical businesses of all types have been willing to sue for amounts that are relatively small, and that the collection agencies have been very inflexible in dealing with patients who have trouble in paying their bills.  That's why I was so relieved to hear about the positive changes that St. V's is implementing.

But, since not every hospital has instituted these changes, it becomes more important than ever for anyone with medical creditors to talk with an attorney as quickly as possible.  Often I am able to help negotiate deferrals or different payment arrangements that a client was unable to obtain.

St. Vincent's CEO Vince Caponi explained the hospital's change to a more lenient policy:
"Our biggest concern is that if we don't do this, patients will continue to put off needed health care."