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"Yale, Don't Lien on Me"
The attack on homeownership by the Yale-New Haven
Health System and the
Yale School of Medicine

Uncharitable Care:
Yale-New Haven Hospital's Charity Care and
Collections Practices

Coming to a
Town Near You?
Charity and Collections
at Bridgeport Hospital

News Stories about Hospital Charity Care

• New Haven Register, "Harp urges liaison for bed funds," 11/29/04

• HealthLeaders Magazine: Q&A with Richard Scruggs, 10/4/04

• Washington Post, "Inova Chain Is Accused Of Gouging Uninsured," 9/24/04
• The Wall Street Journal, "Anatomy of a Hospital Bill
  Uninsured Patients Often Face Big Markups On Small Items; 'Rules Are Completely Crazy,'" 9/21/04
• New Haven Register, "Class-action suit contests hospital’s nonprofit status," 9/14/04
• Hartford Courant, "Yale-New Haven Sued In Class Action. Hospital Accused Of Unfair Treatment For Uninsured Patients," 9/14/04
• Yale Daily News, "Patients allege bad practices. Lawsuit claims that uninsured patients were given unequal treatment at Yale-New Haven," 9/14/04
• Associated Press, "National lawsuit names Yale-New Haven Hospital," 9/13/04

• Las Vegas Sun, "Valley Health owner working on new system for billing the uninsured," 8/9/04
• Philadelphia Inquirer, "Lawsuits Against Hospitals Spiking," 8/8/04
• New York Times, "Nonprofit Hospital Agrees to Limits on Patient Fees," 8/6/04
• Modern Heathcare, "Mississipi system first to settle over uninsured billing," 8/6/04
• USA Today, "Location could be behind gap in health care for blacks," 8/4/04
• The Chicago Tribune, "Assessor pushed to tax hospital," 8/3/04

July 2004

• New Haven Register, "Y-NH sued over legality of bills paid by poor," 7/20/04
• The Bond Buyer, "Analysts warn of impact of widespread hospital lawsuits," 7/16/04
• The Village Voice, "One Sick Fall," 7/13/04
• ABC Nightline, "Sticker Shock Part I transcsript," 7/7/04
• Healthleaders Magazine, "Agressive Collection," 7/1/04
• New Haven Advocate, "Hospital Heat," 7/1/04

• The Wall St. Journal, "A nonprofit fights to win back charitable halo," 6/29/04
• Philadelphia Inquirer, "An ordeal for the uninsured," 6/28/04

• The New York Times, "Hospitals Can Provide Discounts to Uninsured and Needy Patients, Bush Administration Says," 2/20/04
• The Wall Street Journal, "HHS Chief Scolds Hospitals For Treatment of Uninsured," 2/20/04
• The Wall Street Journal, "Hospital Found 'Not Charitable,' Loses Its Status as Tax Exempt," 2/19/04
• Modern Healthcare, "Bill collection, self-reflection," 2/9/04
• VHA Alliance, "Past Due," 2/04
• Yale Daily News, "Suit challenges hospitals' debt collection practices," 2/6/04
• New Haven Register, "Suit claims Yale-New Haven violated debt-collection rules," 2/4/04
• Associated Press, "Yale-New Haven, Bridgeport hospitals sued over bill collection methods," 2/3/04
• News Channel 8, "Lawsuit filed against Yale New Haven and Bridgeport Hospitals," 2/3/04
• The Progressive (column by Barbara Ehrenreich), "Gouging the Poor," February 2004
• New York Times, "Hospitals Agree to Lower Fees for Uninsured," 2/3/04
• The Wall Street Journal, "New York State Hospitals Agree To Cut Prices for Uninsured," 2/2/04

January 2004

• Hartford Courant (op-ed by Juan Figueroa), "Yale-New Haven Owes Debtors Better Treatment," 1/23/04
• New Haven Register (op-ed by 1199 president Jerry Brown), "Bank [and hospital] insiders must be held accountable," 1/21/04
• Hartford Courant (editorial), "Yale-New Haven Plays Hardball," 1/20/04
• Chicago Tribune (editorial), "Easing hospital-bill sticker shock," 1/10/04
• Democracy Now, "State Secret: Why Are Uninsured Patients Paying The Highest Prices For Hospital Care?" 1/7/04
• Democracy Now, "Are Debtor Prisons Returning to America?" 1/7/04

December 2003

• The Wall Street Journal (letters), "Hospitals' Charity-Care Programs," 12/29/03
• New Haven Register (op-ed by Y-NH CEO, Joseph Zaccagnino), "Union targets Y-NH billing; organizing is goal," 12/22/03
• The Connecticut Post, "2 hospitals sued for hounding poor for payments," 12/17/03
• Associated Press, "Union suing 2 hospitals over charity cases," 12/17/03
• Hartford Courant, "Union plans suit over hospital's practices," 12/17/03
• Boston Globe, "Union sues 2 Conn. hospitals over use of free-care funds," 12/17/03
• The Wall Street Journal, "Hospitals will give price breaks to uninsured, if Medicare agrees," 12/17/03
• Modern Healthcare, "Union sues Yale New Haven hospitals over free care," 12/16/03
• News Channel 8, "Union suing two hospitals over charity cases," 12/16/03
• Business New Haven, "YNHH's PR Hell," 12/8/03
• New Haven Register, "Funds for poor at 2 hospitals under scrutiny," 12/10/03
• New Haven Register, "Group connects needy with health care," 12/09/03
• Yale Daily News (op-ed), "Hospital must also aid underinsured patients," 12/3/04

November 2003

• New Haven Register, "Hospital's free-care fund helped, but it took 8 years," 11/30/03
• New Haven Register, "State, Y-NH differ on new law: Dispute escalates over hospital's free-bed funds," 11/30/03
• WBUR Boston (National Public Radio News, Boston), "Yale Law Students Represent Patients," 11/25/03
• News Channel 8, "Yale hospital changes debt-collection policy," 11/19/03
• Associated Press, "Yale Hospital Alters Collection Policy," 11/19/03
• New Haven Register, "Yale-New Haven removes liens on most properties," 11/19/03
• Yale Daily News, "Students file patients' suit: Legal clinic represents debtors vs. hospital," 11/18/03
• Yale Daily News, "Center blasts hospitals' debt collection practices," 11/17/03
• The Wall Street Journal, "Call it Yale v. Yale: Law School Clinic Is Taking Affiliated Hospital to Court Over Debt-Collection Tactics," 11/14/03

October 2003

• The Wall Street Journal, "Hospitals Try Extreme Measures to Collect Their Overdue Debts," 10/30/03
• Yale Daily News, Law eases debts for patients," 10/3/03
• News Channel 8, "New law targets underinsured patients," 10/1/03

July 2003

• Modern Healthcare, "House panel seeks data detailing billing practices," 7/21/03
• Wall Street Journal, "House Panel Begins Inquiry Into Hospital Billing Practices," 7/17/03
• Modern Healthcare, "Conn. law restricts hospital collection activities," 7/15/03
• New Haven Advocate, "Heartless Hospital, Cont'd: How Velma Williams saved her house--& what Yale-New Haven still has to answer for," 7/10/03
• Wall Street Journal, "Hospital Industry is Urged to Avoid Harsh Tactics for Billing Uninsured," 7/7/03

June 2003

• Wall Street Journal, "Taming Hospital Billing: Lawmakers Push Legislation to Restrain Aggressive Collection Against Uninsured," 6/10/03
• New York Times, "At Hospitals, a Cushion for the Poor," 6/8/03
• New Haven Advocate, "Jesse Jackson comes to town," 6/12/03
• New Haven Register, "Jesse Jackson visits Y-NH to press for unionization, forgiveness of patients' debts," 6/6/03
• News Channel 8, "Jesse Jackson attends New Haven rally," 6/5/03 (video link)
• New Haven Register, "Yale law clinic may sue Y-NH on behalf of debtors," 6/5/03
• New Haven Register, "Lawmakers tackle flurry of 11th-hour measures," 6/5/03

May 2003

• New Haven Register, "Bill takes on hospital collection practices," 5/29/03
• New Haven Register (letter), "'Their tactics take away one's dignity,'" 5/29/03
• New Haven Register (letter), "Y-NH problems not financial, but moral," 5/29/03
• Free Speech Radio News, "Medical Debt Hits Poor," 5/23/03
• New Haven Register (letter), "Y-NH harsh bill collection policy not norm," 5/18/03
• New Haven Advocate, "Good News Happens," 5/15/03
• New Haven Register (editorial), "Hospital must collect its bills," 5/11/03
• ABC Eyewitness News, Channel 7 New York, "Is Yale New Haven Hospital Targeting the Poor for Aggressive Collections Policies?" 5/9/03
• New Haven Register, "Coalition urges Y-NH to go a step further and cancel all patient debts," 5/9/03
• New York Times, "Yale Hospital Plans to Halt Foreclosure for Bill Collection," 5/9/03
• New Haven Advocate, "Shoot the Messenger: Yale-New Haven points the finger," 5/8/03
• News Channel 8, "Yale makes changes but criticism continues," 5/8/03 (video link)
• New Haven Register, "Proposal would protect those who owe medical bills," 5/8/03
• New Haven Register, "Yale-NH Hospital alters billing procedures," 5/8/03
• New Haven Register, "Y-NH agrees to lower interest rate on patients' debts," 5/4/03
• New Haven Register, "City property liens center of hospital dispute," 5/2/03
• News Channel 8 (video link), "Group demands changes at YNHH," 5/1/03
• Yale Daily News, "Group criticizes hospital debt collection practices," 5/1/03

April 2003

• New Haven Advocate, "Heartless Hospital: Yale-New Haven breaks new ground in going after patients' homes," 4/17/03
• Yale Daily News, "The hospital is menacing its poorest patients: What does Levin have to say?" 4/8/03
• Wall Street Journal, "After 20 Years and $16,000, a Hospital Debt is Canceled: Quinton White Gets New-Found Freedom from Crushing, 20-Year debt to Hospital," by Lucette Lagnado, 4/1/03

March 2003

• New Haven Register, "'Free bed' reforms sought," 3/19/03
• Wall Street Journal, "Twenty Years and Still Paying: Jeanette White is Long Dead But Her Hospital Bill Lives On," by Lucette Lagnado, 3/13/03
• Modern Healthcare, "On the Defensive: Yale-New Haven disputes charity-care charges," 3/10/03
• News Channel 8, "Group accuses hospital of misusing funds," 3/10/03

February 2003

• Modern Healthcare, "Yale-New Haven sued: Hospital accused of hoarding charitable funds," 2/24/03
  
• New Haven Register, "Yale-New Haven Hospital Denies Ripping Off Poor," 2/21/03
• Hartford Courant: "Hospital Challenged Over Funds: 'Free Bed' Accounts At Issue In Yale-New Haven Lawsuit," 2/21/03
• News Channel 8, "Yale-New Haven Hospital being sued by state," 2/20/03
• New Haven Register, "Yale-New Haven Faces Fraud Suit; State says hospital misused funds meant for poor," 2/20/03

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