Allina halts policy refusing care to patients in debt
This pause comes after the New York Times published an investigation on Allina, which said that, while the organization would provide urgent or emergency care, it could require those with debt to pay it off in full before they could make new appointments.
Tony Webster | Flickr
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Audio transcript
INTERVIEWER: Allina Health has paused a policy that allegedly kept people with a certain amount of debt from getting medical care. This pause comes after the New York Times published an investigation on Allina, which said that while the organization would provide urgent or emergency care, it could require those with debts to pay it off in full before they could make new appointments. Here to talk us through this story is MPR health reporter Michele Wiley. Thanks for being here today, Michelle.
MICHELLE WILEY: Thank you.
INTERVIEWER: So what did Allina say about their decision.
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah so in the original investigation from the Times reporters Sarah Kliff and Jessica Silver-Greenberg said Allina had a written policy, which the story says explicitly told staff to cancel appointments for people with debt and lock their electronic health records. And in some cases, the Times reported people who are denied care were low income enough to qualify for Medicaid and could have qualified for financial assistance or charity care from the organization.
So in a statement last Friday, Allina CEO Lisa Shannon said the organization is taking a, quote, "thoughtful pause" on any new interruptions to non-emergency outpatient clinic scheduling while they re-examine their policy. They said it's, in part, to provide more training and education to staff about what kinds of financial assistance or charity care that the organization can provide. But Shannon also said they're going to take the time to engage with community partners on reducing barriers to care.
INTERVIEWER: OK, so when the Times story first broke, you reported that Attorney General Keith Ellison wanted to hear from people about this practice to see if it broke some state or federal law? Do you have any updates?
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah, so Ellison said in a statement he has heard from people who were denied care, and he's still concerned. Previously, the AG's office said that they wanted to determine if those practices broke the state's hospital agreement. That's a settlement between the AG and nonprofit hospitals across the state. It's designed to protect patients from aggressive billing practices, establish a process for accessing charity care, as well as other things. But that's only for hospitals.
In the Times story, many of these things allegedly happened at clinics, which may not be covered by that agreement. So after Allina announced the pause, Ellison said in a statement he's still encouraging anyone who's had a similar experience to contact his office.
INTERVIEWER: I see. Lawmakers also raised concerns about Allina's practices. So what did they say about the pause?
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah, I spoke to DFL Representative Liz Rayer, and she said the pause is certainly a positive step, but it remains to be seen what will happen next.
LIZ RAYER: My reaction on whether it's good faith or not really depends on what happens next. Do they unpause it as soon as the lights aren't quite so bright?
MICHELLE WILEY: Rayer also said that when all this came out there may need to be legislative solutions to protect people from these kinds of situations. But that, obviously, would have to wait until next session.
INTERVIEWER: Michelle, what are you going to be looking for going forward?
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah, I think, like Rayer said, the question is, what happens next. Will there be a permanent pause? And will there be a policy shift?
What is the plan? And, I mean, is there a plan? Those are all questions I think we'd like to get answers to in the coming weeks and months.
INTERVIEWER: Now Michelle before I let you go, I know you have some big health stories that you have been working on. What's coming up?
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah, well, as many folks likely remember, next week is the one year since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision. In anticipation of that, I'm working on some anniversary coverage. So if anyone has a story they'd like to share about how this decision impacted them or what the last year has been like for them, they can leave me a voicemail at 651-290-1187.
INTERVIEWER: And I'm just going to repeat that number because I always have to hear a number twice, 651-290-1187. Michelle Wiley, thanks so much.
MICHELLE WILEY: Thank you.
INTERVIEWER: Michelle is the health reporter for MPR News.
MICHELLE WILEY: Thank you.
INTERVIEWER: So what did Allina say about their decision.
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah so in the original investigation from the Times reporters Sarah Kliff and Jessica Silver-Greenberg said Allina had a written policy, which the story says explicitly told staff to cancel appointments for people with debt and lock their electronic health records. And in some cases, the Times reported people who are denied care were low income enough to qualify for Medicaid and could have qualified for financial assistance or charity care from the organization.
So in a statement last Friday, Allina CEO Lisa Shannon said the organization is taking a, quote, "thoughtful pause" on any new interruptions to non-emergency outpatient clinic scheduling while they re-examine their policy. They said it's, in part, to provide more training and education to staff about what kinds of financial assistance or charity care that the organization can provide. But Shannon also said they're going to take the time to engage with community partners on reducing barriers to care.
INTERVIEWER: OK, so when the Times story first broke, you reported that Attorney General Keith Ellison wanted to hear from people about this practice to see if it broke some state or federal law? Do you have any updates?
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah, so Ellison said in a statement he has heard from people who were denied care, and he's still concerned. Previously, the AG's office said that they wanted to determine if those practices broke the state's hospital agreement. That's a settlement between the AG and nonprofit hospitals across the state. It's designed to protect patients from aggressive billing practices, establish a process for accessing charity care, as well as other things. But that's only for hospitals.
In the Times story, many of these things allegedly happened at clinics, which may not be covered by that agreement. So after Allina announced the pause, Ellison said in a statement he's still encouraging anyone who's had a similar experience to contact his office.
INTERVIEWER: I see. Lawmakers also raised concerns about Allina's practices. So what did they say about the pause?
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah, I spoke to DFL Representative Liz Rayer, and she said the pause is certainly a positive step, but it remains to be seen what will happen next.
LIZ RAYER: My reaction on whether it's good faith or not really depends on what happens next. Do they unpause it as soon as the lights aren't quite so bright?
MICHELLE WILEY: Rayer also said that when all this came out there may need to be legislative solutions to protect people from these kinds of situations. But that, obviously, would have to wait until next session.
INTERVIEWER: Michelle, what are you going to be looking for going forward?
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah, I think, like Rayer said, the question is, what happens next. Will there be a permanent pause? And will there be a policy shift?
What is the plan? And, I mean, is there a plan? Those are all questions I think we'd like to get answers to in the coming weeks and months.
INTERVIEWER: Now Michelle before I let you go, I know you have some big health stories that you have been working on. What's coming up?
MICHELLE WILEY: Yeah, well, as many folks likely remember, next week is the one year since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision. In anticipation of that, I'm working on some anniversary coverage. So if anyone has a story they'd like to share about how this decision impacted them or what the last year has been like for them, they can leave me a voicemail at 651-290-1187.
INTERVIEWER: And I'm just going to repeat that number because I always have to hear a number twice, 651-290-1187. Michelle Wiley, thanks so much.
MICHELLE WILEY: Thank you.
INTERVIEWER: Michelle is the health reporter for MPR News.
Download transcript (PDF)
Transcription services provided by 3Play Media.