A group of 17 hospitals and health systems sued about 1,600 New Yorkers to collect medical debts totaling about $9 million since early 2022, despite efforts seeking to end the controversial practice, the USA TODAY Network found.
The lawsuits — which can disrupt lives and deepen suffering for patients battling illness — came after some other hospitals halted debt-collection lawsuits during the pandemic, as advocates and lawmakers pushed measures restricting medical-debt collections, according to a review of thousands of pages of court records.