They want to buy medical debt and forgive it. Some hospitals are saying: "Pass"

[ck4829]

After a local campaign erased nearly $41 million in medical debt for more than 36,000 Oklahomans, the fundraising is coming to an end. That’s not because debt isn’t rising; it’s just out of reach.

Tulsa couple Mona and Mark Whitmire started the effort in partnership with the national nonprofit RIP Medical Debt just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Oklahoma. It targets debt that has been sold by medical providers to debt collectors. The nonprofit buys the debt for pennies on each dollar owed and then cancels it.

“Unfortunately, we’ve struggled to get hospitals to engage with us and willing to participate,” RIP Medical Debt Executive Director Allison Sesso said. “A lot of hospitals hadn’t heard about us. A lot of hospitals think it’s too good to be true. Some prefer the collections agencies.”

Some hospitals have pushed back using the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly known as HIPAA, saying the selling of the debt violates patient confidentiality But, as Sesso points out, hospitals will sell the same information to for-profit collection agencies.

https://tulsaworld.com/opinion/columnists/ginnie-graham-medical-debt-nonprofit-ends-campaign-after-inability-to-access-more-overdue-bills/article_bf8d4ae8-73d7-11ec-a287-4bc1d2b55057.html

Fun fact: One of the biggest data breaches this year was of a debt collector that had their hands on confidential patient data. No concern about HIPAA then.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/13/pfc-ransomware-healthcare/