Atrium Health says it is wiping out all existing judgments and liens against patients for unpaid medical bills, offering relief to scores of North Carolinians who have been sued by the hospital system. "It's been a 20-year battle, like an albatross around my neck," said Terry Belk, a Charlotte patient with medical debt who has been an outspoken critic of Atrium's collection practices. "It has threatened to take everything I built up. It's been stressful — financially, mentally and somewhat physically — having this hanging over me." Belk, 68, said he has more than $40,000 in medical debt and a lien on his home related to breast cancer treatment for his wife, Sandra, who died in 2012, and his own more recent treatment for prostate cancer. He said he learned about the change after calling an Atrium vice president earlier this week. In North Carolina, medical debt judgments can last for 20 years and automatically place liens against patients' homes, allowing hospitals to collect their money when the home is sold. Medical debts also accrue 8% interest per year as long as they remain unpaid. Atrium's announcement comes amid growing pressure on hospitals nationwide to reform their debt collection and billing practices as the number of Americans struggling with medical debt soars. About one in five North Carolina residents has medical debt in collections, according to an Urban Institute analysis.
