A healthcare provider called out for withholding care from patients who have unpaid medical debts has suspended its policy, saying that it will “carefully study additional ways to educate our teams about the extensive financial services available to patients experiencing financial barriers to care.”
Allina Heath, which operates more than 100 hospitals and clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin was the subject of an article in The New York Times earlier this month for canceling appointments and procedures for individuals who owe the provider at least $4,500. Allina will treat any individual in its emergency rooms, but has been withholding treatments of elective and preventive appointments and procedures, proactively canceling them or refusing to allow doctors to write prescriptions or schedule visits in the first place.
“Allina Health will take a thoughtful pause on any new interruptions to non-emergent, outpatient clinic scheduling while we re-examine our policy,” said Allina CEO Lisa Shannon in a statement. “Reducing barriers to care is central to our mission as a steward of community health, and we will carefully study additional ways to educate our teams about the extensive financial services available to patients experiencing financial barriers to care.”
Shannon also said the provider is “committed to listening to our community and working to better understand the barriers to accessing the financial support available to our patients,” and plans to “engage community partners” during this pause to discuss “reducing barriers to care and the collective role we all play in that process.”
The policy was originally created in 2006, according to the report, but was suspended during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and has since been restarted. The policy “tells staff to ‘cancel any future appointments the patient has scheduled at any clinic.’ ”
