What began as emergency surgery for a Colorado patient spiraled into a financial nightmare, exposing the dishonest billing practices of UCHealth, a nonprofit hospital system.
Blake Pfeifer was originally charged $104,000 for emergency stomach surgery. Despite receiving a discounted price of $58,124, he faced collection threats and discrepancies in his bill. Patient Rights Advocate discovered that many of his charges were far above those listed in UCHealth’s federal price transparency data, while 75% of his charges were not listed at all.
This issue is not uncommon, nearly 40% of hospitals studied do not follow federal price transparency guidelines.
The UCHealth system has been accused of aggressive billing practices, including suing patients through third-party collectors. From 2019 to 2023, UCHealth and a collection agency filed over 12,000 lawsuits against patients, often based on “unsubstantiated and inaccurate billing records.”
Nonprofit hospital systems are making billions while patients are left drowning in debt, hit with surprise bills, and dragged into court. UCHealth’s net patient revenues were over $8 billion in 2024 and their operating income was $523 million– up 58% from the year before.
Tax-exempt institutions like UCHealth must be held to a higher standard. It’s time for legislation that prioritizes patient care over profit. Better Solutions will continue to shine a light on hospital greed.
