Senator Grassley Targets a Missouri Nonprofit Hospital for its Billing and Collection Practices

January 30, 2015

As reported in the Daily Tax Report and as released in a statement from his office, Senator Grassley is requesting that a Missouri non-profit hospital, Mosaic Life in Care in St. Joseph, Missouri, explain its large number of lawsuits against low-income patients over treatment bills rather than providing such patients reasonable payment plans for their medical care. In a letter to the hospital, the Senator affirmed Mosaic’s requirement to confer community as a condition to its tax-exempt status as well as meet other requirements under the law, including a financial assistance policy and constraints on billing and collection practices. In his statement, the Senator explained:

Non-profit hospitals are obligated under law to have a financial assistance policy and alert those who can’t afford care of any assistance they qualify to receive. Occasionally, a hospital seems to go out of its way to avoid helping the poorest patients. When these cases come up, the hospitals should explain their practices and how they comply with the spirit and the letter of the law. It’s a matter of accountability for the tax breaks they receive.

The Senator asserted that Mosaic has sued more of its patients in recent years than any other Missouri hospital, with ost of those sued being uninsured and eligible for financial assistance. Rather, many of these eligible patients were charged full price for their medical care in addition to the imposition of fines and late fees.

According to the Daily Tax Report, in a statement by its spokeswoman, Mosaic acknowledged that the allegations were “serious,”and said it would respond in an “appropriate and timely manner” to the Senator’s inquiries.

Nicholas Mirkay

Posted in:

Federal-Legislative and In the News