The Line: Carlsbad Hospital’s High Rate of Lawsuits Against Patients

September 6, 2019 – Gene Grant and The Line opinion panel discuss the abundance of lawsuits filed by Carlsbad Medical Center against its patients – an aggressive practice highlighted by The New York Times. Patients often find themselves in a financial bind due to the difficulty of knowing exactly what their costs will be until the bill comes. Then, they can’t pay and sometimes can’t even set up a payment plan. While the majority of hospitals don’t make it a regular practice to take their patients to court, the Carlsbad Medical Center has filed more than 3,000 suits since 2015. The Line debates whether the state should be stepping in to stem the lawsuit tide.

Line Panelists:
Julie Ann Grimm, editor, Santa Fe Reporter
Dede Feldman, former state senator
H. Diane Snyder, former state senator
Edmund E. Perea, attorney

For Further Reading:
The Hospital Treated These Patients. Then It Sued Them. – The New York Times

Sued Over An $1,800 Hospital Bill – Kaiser Health News

When Hospitals Sue For Unpaid Bills, It Can Be ‘Ruinous’ For Patients – NPR