Minn. AG seeks to expand complaint against hospital collection company

In court papers, Minn. Attorney General Lori Swanson alleges a dozen new instances in which patients were "hustled with bedside collection visits" and led to believe "they had to pay before receiving care."

Chicago Tribune: Minnesota Seeks To Expand Suit Against Accretive Health
The Minnesota attorney general's office moved Tuesday to expand its lawsuit against Chicago-based Accretive Health Inc., after more patients have come forward with complaints of aggressive collection of current and past-due bills (Sachdev, 6/19).

Bloomberg: Minnesota Seeks Wider Complaint Against Accretive Health
Accretive Health Inc. (AH) maintains "an aggressive boiler room-type culture within hospitals," Minnesota's attorney general said in court papers seeking to add to her lawsuit complaint against the health-care billings management company. Attorney General Lori Swanson, who sued the Chicago-based company in January over alleged violations of privacy law, raised new claims today in a bid for permission to revise her complaint against Accretive for the second time. On April 30, the company asked U.S. District Judge Richard H. Kyle in St. Paul, Minnesota to throw out the case, arguing it is "factually baseless and legally indefensible" (Harris, 6/19).

Modern Healthcare: Minn. Attorney General Seeks To Widen Complaint Against Accretive
Accretive Health would face new claims the company violated debt-collection and consumer-protection laws under a proposed amended complaint by Minnesota's attorney general. Lori Swanson, Minnesota's attorney general, has asked a federal judge to allow new claims against Accretive Health in the state's lawsuit against the billing and collection company (Evans, 6/19).

(St. Paul) Pioneer Press: New Accretive Allegations: Debt Collector Told New Mom To Pay Or Baby Would Stay
Swanson's revised complaint, filed Tuesday, June 19, in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, cites a dozen instances where "emergency room patients (were) hustled with bedside collection visits" that led them to believe they had to pay before receiving care. ... In addition, the amended complaint alleges the company committed consumer fraud by trying to collect from patients before knowing what services they needed or what the costs would be, often overcharging them (Snowbeck, 6/19).