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    • No connection between medical debt cancellation and CEO death
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    No connection between medical debt cancellation and CEO death

    Pabio Posted on

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    The Claim: Post Implies Link Between Medical Debt Cancellation and UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting

    A discussion article from December 13 (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of an NBC News report about a North Carolina-based health care provider clearing out medical debt. The image was shared in response to a post about reactions to the murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare.

    “Atrium Health of North Carolina says it will forgive the debts of 11,500 people – less than a week after NBC News reported that the company had aggressively pursued the medical debts of former patients, placing liens on their homes to collect their bills,” reads NBC News. report.

    “And probably not related at all either,” the post’s caption read.

    Some users seemed to believe that Atrium Health’s decision to cancel medical debt was influenced by Thompson’s murder.

    “Finally! Someone found a solution to our terrible health insurance companies,” one user wrote.

    “Too little, too late,” wrote another.

    The post was liked more than 600 times in one week.

    Learn more about the Fact-Check team: How we screen and research claims | Electronic newsletter | Facebook page

    Our note: Missing context

    The implied statement is false. The North Carolina medical debt cancellations highlighted in the post were announced in September, more than two months before Thompson’s murder.

    Atrium Health’s parent company announced debt forgiveness months before filming

    Thompson was dejected on Dec. 4 outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel. Luigi Mangione, 26, has since accused of his murder. This murder sparked numerous reactions and debates online in the American health sector.

    But that hasn’t prompted Atrium Health, one of North Carolina’s largest hospital systems, to cancel its medical debt. The cancellations mentioned in December 13 NBC News The position was advertised well before Thompson’s death.

    Advocate Health, which operates as Atrium in the Southeast, announced debt forgiveness in all of its six states as part of a Press release of September 18. The changes included canceling liens placed on more than 11,000 homes to collect unpaid medical bills and waive the debt linked to these privileges. The network announced in 2022 that it stop complaining or seeking privileges or judgments, but did not seek to remove privileges already in place at the time.

    Advocate Health did not detail the number of privileges canceled in each state, but Atrium and other North Carolina providers had be subject to scrutiny for debt collection practices that included filing lawsuits and seeking liens on unpaid invoices. A 2023 Report of Duke University Law School and the North Carolina State Treasurer’s Office, said Atrium filed more than 40% of the state’s medical debt lawsuits between January 2017 and June 2022 that the researchers were able to identify. Four other health systems responsible for about 55% of lawsuits documented in report plans announced by October to follow Advocate’s lead and remove the liens they filed.

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    North Carolina’s 99 eligible hospital systems signed a program that would increase state payments if they forgave their old medical debts and expanded their eligibility for charity care programs, according to an August report from North Carolina Health News.

    The NBC News X post linked in the story includes a link to the news outlet’s site. story about the people who benefit shares of Atrium. While the story took place after Thompson’s murder, the family featured in it had their lien removed and their debt forgiven in November.

    USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

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    Pabio
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