Social networks messages linked a North Carolina hospital system’s decision to eliminate the debts of 11,500 patients to murder of Brian Thompson.

Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed Dec. 4 with balls marked with words “delay”, “deny” and “drop” – seen as a criticism of the health insurance industry, which has been accused of delay and deny medical claims.

THURSDAY, BNC News reported that a couple who owed Atrium Health $92,262 under a lien on their home had their debt erased, and social media users claimed the hospital system erased the debts in response to Thompson’s death.

The complaint

For more than 20 years, Atrium Health of North Carolina placed liens on the homes of patients unable to repay their debts to the hospital system, meaning that the money an indebted patient earned from selling their home would go toward pay his medical expenses.

This practice is consistent with North Carolina Medical Judgment Ruleswhich automatically places liens on the homes of patients who have medical debt. Medical judgments in North Carolina also generate 8% interest year over year.

Donna and Gary Lindabury, the couple interviewed by NBC, are 72 and 80, respectively, and had been living with debt, including a lien on their home, since Gary’s emergency heart surgery in 2009. The debt had at one point donated reached $200,000, they told the outlet.

They added that they had been “consumed with just trying to solve this problem.”

Another former patient, Terry Belk, 68, said North Carolina Health News that his debt was “like an albatross” around his neck.

He was left with $40,000 in debt and a lien on his house following his recent treatment for prostate cancer and breast cancer for his wife, who died in 2012.

An urban institute 2022 report Citing credit bureau data from August 2021, North Carolina contained 12 of the 100 U.S. counties with the most medical debt.

As of December 1, 2023, the State implemented a Medicaid expansionand residents ages 19 to 64 who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level may be eligible for Medicaid in North Carolina.

The facts

Atrium Health has not removed liens on people’s homes because of Thompson’s murder.

The decision to eliminate the debts was made in September, and the couple featured in the NBC article had their debt eliminated in November.

In a Statement of September 19Advocate Health, the parent company of Atrium Health, said: “As part of its ongoing commitment to making health care more affordable and accessible, Advocate Health, the nation’s third-largest not-for-profit health system , takes an important step in eliminating financial barriers. care.

“The organization announced that it will begin canceling all court liens previously placed on homes and real estate as part of its efforts to collect unpaid medical bills. Advocate Health will also cancel unpaid debts associated with these liens. “

The statement also reiterated Advocate Health’s 2022 announcement that it would “no longer file lawsuits or seek liens or judgments in its collection efforts.”

News week contacted Atrium Health for further comment via email.

Atrium Health was one of five hospital networks in North Carolina to begin eliminating existing medical judgments this year.

CaroMont Health, Mission Health, Sampson Regional and Community Health Systems have also announced similar measures to erase patient debts, although deletions may take time because the process involves coordination with the courts.

The five providers filed 96% of the state’s medical debt lawsuits between January 2017 and June 2022, a figure 2023 Report by Duke University North Carolina State Law School and Treasurer’s Office Discovered.

Earlier this year, Governor Roy Cooper announced a debt relief program which rewards hospitals that agree to forgive old debts and consider stepping up their charity care policies.

The relief program covers debts held by current Medicaid patients dating back to 2014 and debts deemed “uncollectible” for other low- and moderate-income patients.

The decision

FAKE.

Atrium Health was not encouraged to eliminate medical debt after the death of Brian Thompson. The hospital system began its debt reduction in September.

Newsweek FACT CHECK