Doctors study for years to learn how to save lives and cure their patients but increasingly they are lawyering up and suing the people they are meant to be serving.
Private physicians and non-hospital medical providers now dominate healthcare debt litigation in Connecticut, accounting for more than 80% of collections cases as hospital-led lawsuits have sharply declined, according to state legal records, reports KFF news.
The shift marks a major reversal from five years ago, when hospital systems were responsible for three-quarters of health-related collection cases in the state.
The trend has moved medical debt collections into a less regulated realm of private practice, where providers are generally exempt from federal rules that require non-profit hospitals to provide financial aid to low-income patients.
Hospital lawsuits in the state plummeted from more than 4,900 in 2019 to fewer than 300 in 2024, following criticism of aggressive collection tactics. However, an investigation by the Connecticut Mirror and KFF Health News identified more than 16,000 health care-related debt cases filed between 2019 and 2024, with the vast majority now initiated by physician groups, dentists, and ambulance companies.
Medical groups defended the practice as a financial necessity driven by the rise of high-deductible health plans and rising operating costs.
“This is a business,” said Paula Greenberg, CEO of Women’s Health Connecticut, a private equity-backed management company for a large network of OB-GYN practices. Greenberg noted that while her network sees 300,000 patients annually, lawsuits represent a small fraction of their operations and are used only after offering installment plans.
Geoffrey Manton, president of Naugatuck Valley Radiological Associates, said legal action is sometimes necessary when patients stop responding to bills. “Hiding from your problems isn’t going to solve them,” Manton said.
The lawsuits typically involve debts of less than $3,000, yet the consequences for patients can be “devastating,” according to the report. Legal actions frequently result in garnished wages, liens on homes, and hundreds of dollars in added interest and court fees.
Allie Cass-Wilson, a nurse in Bristol, was sued over a $1,972 debt by an OB-GYN practice she had visited years earlier. She claimed she only learned of the debt when the lawsuit was filed and was subsequently “blacklisted” from making new appointments.
“I couldn’t believe that my medical provider let my care be interrupted like this,” Cass-Wilson said.
Other patients reported being sued over bills they believed were erroneous or should have been covered by insurance. A 2022 federal report found that nearly half of medical debt complaints involved bills consumers claimed were incorrect or already paid.
State lawmakers are now considering expanding patient protections to cover non-hospital providers. While Connecticut recently barred medical debt from consumer credit reports, many current legislative efforts still focus primarily on hospitals.