Mayo Clinic was found to be suing patients– who should have qualified for charity care– over medical debt, the Minnesota Attorney General found. The clinic will now have to change its policies going forward– and “presumptively” assume certain patients are eligible for financial assistance.

Tax-exempt hospitals are notorious for failing to provide enough charity care.

The investigation revealed that Mayo Clinic had instructed staff to avoid discussing charity care with patients and to suggest patients take out loans to pay bills. The system even had internal documents that explicitly instructed billing department employees to steer patients away from financial assistance in an effort to collect payment.

Better Solutions believes that all patients deserve access to affordable care, and we will continue to shine a light on hospitals that prioritize profits over patients. We urge all hospitals to follow Mayo Clinic’s example and reform their charity care and debt collection practices to put patients first.