SEATTLE, Wash.-The Attorney General’s Office concluded its charity care lawsuit against Providence after reaching a settlement with the health care company’s last remaining debt collection agency.
Optimum Outcomes agreed to pay $827,000 for violating patients’ medical debt collection rights, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
A King County Superior Court judge ruled that Optimum violated the medical debt collection rights of patients in Washington, violating state law more than 82,000 times, and ordered the company to pay $10 per violation.
“We delivered economic justice for Washingtonians in the form of corporate reforms and more than $160 million in direct payments, debt forgiveness and civil penalties,” said Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the fine will go into the state general fund and Optimum must also make reforms to comply with Washington State law.
Optimum unlawfully collected payments from patients without providing critical information about their rights when faced with medical debt and created barriers that kept patients who likely qualified for financial assistance from learning about and accessing help with their hospital bills.
Patients who were not told they were eligible for financial assistance and were instead sent to collection will receive refunds ad part of Providence’s settlement with the AG’s Office.
“This legal victory resolves the largest charity care lawsuit in American history,” said AG Ferguson.
