Becker's Hospital Review

18 CFO / FINANCE Northwell's 2,500 lawsuits against patients made headlines; hours later, they were rescinded By Alia Paavola N ew Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health will rescind thousands of lawsuits filed against patients for unpaid medi- cal bills amid the pandemic, the system told Becker's Hospital Review Jan. 4. Vice President of Public Relations Barbara Osborn told Becker's that during the initial height of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, North- well eased some patient collection activities and put a six-month pause from April through September on legal filings to collect unpaid debts. Northwell said that the legal filing pause occurred at all but one hospital, which was the result of a computer glitch. Despite the pause, the lawsuits resumed systemwide in early October. According to a Jan. 4 article in e New York Times, Northwell sued 2,500 patients to collect unpaid medical bills amid the pandemic. e lawsuits filed by Northwell sought an average of $1,700 in unpaid debt, plus large interest payments. But because of the COVID-19 resurgence, and following the Times article outlining the debt lawsuits, Northwell said it has decided to extend the pause on legal filings and rescind any claims that were filed in 2020. "Given the recent resurgence of COVID cases in our area, we de- cided to extend the pause on legal filings, and we are also going to rescind any legal claims that were filed in 2020," Ms. Osborn told Becker's Jan. 4. Northwell's chief business strategy officer, Richard Miller, and Ms. Osborn also shared with Becker's that debt lawsuits filed against patients are "very rare" and occur in just 0.1 percent of the system's claims. "It's pretty rare that we take legal action," Ms. Osborn said. "It is only aer the patient has been unresponsive to multiple attempts by us to help resolve an outstanding balance and only if it is determined that the patient has a strong ability to pay." Mr. Miller added that Northwell Health offers financial assistance for individuals up to 500 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, this is $130,000 a year in income, Mr. Miller said. Mr. Miller said the lawsuits filed in 2020 were from hospitalizations that occurred before the pandemic. "We never want to pursue any legal action on a patient," Mr. Miller said. "We want to work with them to offer them a zero-interest pay- ment plan or offer them financial assistance if they qualify based on the income eligibility." n Envision, UnitedHealthcare break ties: 5 things to know By Morgan Haefner N ashville, Tenn.-based Envision Healthcare is no longer in UnitedHealthcare's provider network after the organiza- tions couldn't agree on reimbursement rates. Five things to know: 1. The change took effect Jan. 1. In an email to Becker's Hospital Review, UnitedHealthcare said the change will affect physician groups in 44 states and Washington, D.C. Most of the physicians affected provide emergency room and anes- thesiology services. Some Envision physicians also provide radiology, neonatology, hospitalist, primary care and specialty care services. 2. Envision said in a Dec. 31 news release that UnitedHealthcare made the decision to cut ties. Envision stated that Unit- edHealthcare is cutting physician reimbursement rates. 3. According to Envision, UnitedHealthcare has characterized reimbursement rates for Envision physicians as three times higher than their median rate. The physician staffing firm claimed if this was the case, "United has cut reimbursement rates for emergency room doctors [across] the country by 50 percent." 4. UnitedHealthcare framed the network change differently. A spokesperson for the health insurer said Envision is "driving up the cost of care for the people and customers we serve. Envision expects to be paid nearly double the median rate we pay other anesthesiologists and more than triple the median rate we pay other ER physicians." UnitedHealthcare provid- ed one example in Florida, where it says 90 minutes of anesthesia services for knee surgery would cost more than twice as much if an Envision physician administered it compared to an anesthesiologist reimbursed at a median rate. 5. The organizations have clashed in the past. In December 2018, UnitedHealthcare and Envision agreed to extend their contract for 2019 despite legal battles over arbitration and disagreements about surprise billing. n

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