Medical debts can be tricky. A lot of times, separate physician groups or medical practices work out of a hospital and can bill a patient directly, making it confusing for the patient to know who is collecting for what. A District Court judge in Pennsylvania has adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation to grant a defendant’s motion to dismiss a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case after the plaintiff sued the collection department of a hospital because the plaintiff did not clearly prove the defendant met the statute’s definition of a debt collector.
The background: The case stemmed from medical care the plaintiff received at a Pennsylvania hospital following emergency abdominal surgery. The plaintiff alleged he was improperly billed for services that Medicare had already covered and began receiving bills from multiple affiliated entities, which represented different individuals who treated the plaintiff while he was in the hospital.
- When the hospital’s collection office continued to contact him about outstanding balances, including what the plaintiff described as “150 harassing collection phone calls” he filed suit under the FDCPA, among other federal and state laws, naming the hospital’s collection office as the defendant.
The ruling: Judge Julia K. Munley of the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania agreed that if the calls occurred as described, the alleged conduct could qualify as harassment under the FDCPA.
- However, she agreed with the magistrate judge’s determination that the complaint failed to show that the hospital’s collection department qualified as a “debt collector” under the Act.
- Because the plaintiff did not allege that the debts were owed to an independent, unaffiliated third party, or that the hospital was collecting for someone else, the court concluded the FDCPA did not apply.
- The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, giving the plaintiff an opportunity to file an amended complaint with additional facts clarifying whether the hospital was collecting on debts owed to third-party providers or just to itself.
