In July, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, announced a medical debt relief program that all of the state’s 99 eligible hospitals agreed to participate in, forgiving medical debts dating back to Jan. 1, 2014, for Medicaid beneficiaries. In addition, medical debt considered uncollectible for patients whose income is at or below at least 350% of the federal poverty level will be relieved under the program, as will past medical debt exceeding 5% of a person’s annual income. Nine Atrium hospitals in the state are among the participants.
But that program did not help many former patients carrying medical debt from prior years. For instance, Belk said his debt was excluded from the governor’s initiative.
Announcing its new lien release program, Advocate Health said it would start with the oldest cases first, resolving them individually “over the next several months.” The company warned that the process would take time as it coordinates with courts in each jurisdiction.
When NBC News contacted Atrium Health previously about Belk’s situation, the company spokesman provided a statement saying that the health system has used litigation against patients “as a last resort,” and that Belk signed both the deed of trust and the other judgment voluntarily, “and presumably on the advice of his attorney.”
The company statement added: “As the leading, nonprofit health system in the Southeast, Atrium Health works to ensure access to high-quality care for everyone in each community we’re privileged to serve. For us, there are no profits — just outcomes, in the form of improving health, elevating hope and advancing healing — for all.”