Medical Debt Collector Accretive Settles with State for $2.5 million
Medical debt collector and revenue cycle management provider Accretive Health Monday ended its months-long public legal battle with the Minnesota Attorney General over its health facility debt collection practices, agreeing to pay $2,490,400 in a settlement without admitting any wrongdoing.
The company also agreed to cease its healthcare revenue cycle consulting services practice in Minnesota for two years. The company had contracts with Fairview Health and North Memorial, companies which operate hospitals and clinics in the state.
The Minnesota vs. Accretive battle has been gory for months, with the state’s attorney general – Lisa Madigan – joined by U.S. Senator Al Franken (D.-Minn.) on the firing lines. Even Stephen Colbert weighed in on the matter.
For more detail on the specifics of the settlement and a refresher of the saga, read the coverage on our sister site insidePatientFinance.com.
Related Content:
Let me get this straight: Accretive agrees to essentially get banished from doing business in Minnesota for the rest of this decade AND pay $2.5 million to Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson while still claiming it has done no wrong?
Accretive’s statement to the media essentially says the company agreed to fork over millions and stay out of one of the country’s most lucrative health care markets for the next 2-6 years so that this wouldn’t be “an ongoing distraction” and lead to negative PR.
Well, if Accretive wanted to avoid this issue becoming an “ongoing distraction,” perhaps it should have done something about it months ago, before all the patient horror stories, before the negative national news coverage, before being lambasted by Swanson and former patients in field hearings by Sen. Al Franken, before the clumsy “Leave our fine Chicago business alone!” threat from Rahm Emanuel to Swanson … on and on this story went, a negative PR bonanza that kept on giving.
My question: If you’re in Accretive’s shoes, honestly, could it have REALLY gotten any worse than it already was? Why settle now?
Wow.