Healthcare Matters

We posted a story yesterday that largely centered on Accretive Health’s alleged illegal debt collection practices and how such behavior is symptomatic of an industry that not only refuses to disclose its costs to patients, but sells its wares at wildly differing price points. Not surprisingly, amidst all the accusations being made, the company’s stock is falling sharply. More than 40 percent just yesterday, to below $11.

It certainly didn’t take long. Minnesota’s AG Lori Swanson released a six-volume report on Tuesday of this week that says Chicago-based Accretive harassed patients with bedside debt collections; that it even targeted vulnerable emergency room patients and expectant mothers. The report also says that Accretive debt collectors had access to private patient medical histories.

William Safire said: “the right to do something doesn’t mean that doing it is right.” Let’s pray that Ms. Swanson garners as much of that public sentiment as she can; that she can successfully abstract the problem, get some national media coverage and instigate meaningful reform.

And let’s hope that the hospital executives who engaged Accretive and enabled such bad behavior –if it’s true– don’t get off the hook by pleading ignorance. Those executives are perfect carriers of the expression: “Someday we’re going to look back on this, laugh nervously, and change the subject.” At a minimum, I’m hoping they stampede each other in a rush to “take full responsibility.” Or something similarly annoying.

–Tom Finn