An NBC News story about outstanding medical debt owed to the hospital system Atrium Health of North Carolina has led to some of it being wiped out. The network reported that the nonprofit company was aggressively pursuing former patients’ medical debts by placing liens on their homes to collect the unpaid hospital bills, and less than a week later, they announced that they would forgive the balances.
According to Atrium’s parent company, Advocate Health, around 11-thousand 500 liens on people’s homes in North Carolina and five other states - some of which date back 20 years or more - will be canceled. Advocate Health says it’s taking “the next logical step” to change its policy now. With their new lien release program, they will be starting with the oldest cases first over the next few months.
Terry Belk, a Charlotte resident who was part of the NBC News story, owed tens of thousands in medical debt after his wife died of breast cancer in 2012 and he battled prostate cancer. He says he was stunned to get a call from Atrium Health notifying him the lien on his home was canceled and his debts would be forgiven. Belk is beyond grateful and says, “There’s no way this would have happened without national coverage by NBC News.”
Source: NBC NEWS