Minnesota AG Wants to Expand Lawsuit Against Accretive Health

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has raised new claims in an effort to expand her January lawsuit against Chicago-based Accretive Health, according to a recently filed memorandum of law.

Ms. Swanson's new allegations regard Accretive's alleged collection process in hospital emergency departments. In her original suit, Ms. Swanson claims the company violated patients' privacy and improperly placed debt collectors at patients' bedsides in EDs at Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services and Robbinsdale, Minn.-based North Memorial Health Care facilities.

"Accretive prepared a document called 'the Accretive Secret Sauce,' or 'ASS,' touting 'you've never seen ASS like ours!'" Ms. Swanson said in her recent court filing. "The impact of the 'Secret Sauce' on patients is very real. Its tactics also violate the law."

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act prohibits hospitals from asking patients for payment before the patient has had a medical screening or before providing stabilizing medical treatment.

Ms. Swanson's new complaints contain reports from hospital patients who said they were asked to pay upwards of $300 dollars in the emergency rooms of Fairview facilities, and the patients consequently thought they would be denied treatment if unable to pay the full amount.

A spokesperson for Accretive said the attorney general's new charges are mischaracterized and distort facts. Accretive has already asked U.S. District Judge Richard H. Kyle to throw out Ms. Swanson's first suit, calling it "factually baseless and legally indefensible," and it would seek dismissal of the amended complaint as well, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report.

More Articles on Accretive Health:

Fairview Receives Credit Downgrade Amid CEO Departure, Accretive Probe
CMS Probes University of Minnesota Medical Center After Accretive Allegations
Accretive Denies Minnesota AG's Allegations


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