“We need to protect Marylanders from the outrageous possibility that getting sick can lead to bankruptcy, homelessness, and destitution,” said Charkoudian. “The stories we've heard from patients who have been sued are disturbing and heartbreaking. We can see the extent of the problem of medical debt collection lawsuits. We can also see that some hospitals use a range of other strategies to support patients to pay their bills and receive financial assistance. Predatory lawsuits are not necessary to keep hospitals solvent and they are not just. The legislation I have introduced adds guardrails to our system so that the legal system is not used to intimidate and discourage Marylanders from seeking medical care.”

“One of the many great things about the Affordable Care Act is that it requires non-profit hospitals to provide free or reduced cost care to people with low or modest incomes,” said Lewis. “Without this assistance, many families could face financial catastrophe. This bill helps those families by expanding eligibility for free or reduced-cost care. It will also help hospitals to meet their health care goals as well.”


“Today in Maryland, 16 percent of households have a medical debt in collection; and of those medical debts, 20 percent are located in communities of color, which already struggle with disparities related to access to healthcare and social determinants of health,” said Marceline White, the executive director of the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition. “No one should lose their wages or their home because they or a family member fell ill. We know of far too many cases when someone should have qualified for financial assistance and instead ends up in court. We need strong reforms to assist households who qualify for assistance and protect patients and their families from unnecessary and predatory medical debt collection lawsuits.”

“Preying on Patients” is the latest comprehensive look at medical debt lawsuits in Maryland and shows that between 2009 and 2018, the state’s hospitals, all of which are run as not-for-profits, have filed 145,746 lawsuits seeking $2.69 million from patients – even as the overall hospital industry posted $5.68 billion in net income, handsomely paid its executives million-dollar salaries for a total of $1.6 billion in compensation over the last five years, and recouped millions more in money from the state’s rate payers in subsidized charity care payments than it spent.


About National Nurses United
National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 150,000 members nationwide. NNU plays a leadership role in safeguarding the health and safety of RNs and their patients and has won landmark legislation in the areas of staffing, safe patient handling, infectious disease, and workplace violence prevention.

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