A group of five plaintiffs have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Kentucky Department of Revenue and UK Healthcare, alleging the debt collection practices used by the defendants violate the patients’ right to due process.
A copy of the complaint, in the case of Alexander et al v. Miller et al can be accessed by clicking here.
UK Healthcare is the only healthcare provider in the state of Kentucky that can tap the state’s Department of Revenue to help collect on unpaid medical debts. The suit accuses the healthcare provider of having the Department of Revenue garnish wages and seize assets without filing suit against them, which is what most healthcare providers must do to recover unpaid debts. UK Healthcare does not alert patients that their debt has been referred to the state prior to doing so, according to the complaint. The Department of Revenue does not allow individuals to dispute the existence or the amount of the debt, the plaintiffs allege. It also automatically adds a 25% fee plus interest on any debt referred to it by UK Healthcare.
The plaintiffs are being represented by the Kentucky Equal Justice Center and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice.
“Sometimes hospitals make billing mistakes,” said Betsy Davis Stone, an attorney at Kentucky Equal Justice Center, in a press release. “Without a process for challenging those mistakes, UK HealthCare patients are left paying whatever UK HealthCare and the Department of Revenue decide to charge. The Constitution gives these patients the right to stand up and challenge debts before the government takes their paychecks, their savings, their homes, and their livelihoods.”
The department is also accused of continuing to send out “threatening” letters to individuals during the coronavirus pandemic.
