Non-profit hospital chain Providence hounded poor patients entitled to free healthcare for payments

One of the nation’s largest nonprofit hospital chains was responsible for an aggressive plan to harass and harass financially needy patients for money even when they were not legally required to pay.

According to a shocking new report from the New York TimesProvidence Health & Services started their plan in 2018 and continued it through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Providence employees had to use tactics from a “detailed playbook” called Rev-Up to extort money from patients. When patients still failed to pay, their bills were redirected to even more aggressive collection services, ruining the creditworthiness of some victims.

Providence is a not-for-profit hospital originally founded by nuns to provide care to those who are too poor to pay for it. It sits on a $10 billion cash pile and even has its own private equity firm, leading to accusations that the medical giant has gone way beyond the noble goals of its founders.

The strategies used to refine patients were devised in part by consulting the giant McKinsey & Company.

Prior to initiating the plan, Providence would write off the outstanding debts of people whose bills were partially paid by Medicaid.

The practice violates laws in California, Washington and Oregon. Since February, Providence has been fighting a lawsuit in Washington over their practices.

According to his LinkedIn page, Dr. Rod Hochman has been the CEO and President of Providence since 2013, and has overseen the money-grabbing changes.

Among those hunted by Providence employees was the recently deceased mother, Vanessa Weller.

A single mother, Weller, of Anchorage, Alaska, was already 24 weeks pregnant when she went to a facility in Providence in her hometown.

She had to give birth by caesarean section. Her son, Isaiah, weighed only a pound. After five days in the hospital, Isaiah died. An employee first approached her about payment while Isaiah lay dying in intensive care.

Weller told hospital staff she planned to pay through Medicaid.

Despite qualifying for benefits, Weller said she received calls from Providence about a month after her baby’s death.

The price she was quoted was $125,000. At the time, Weller was working as a manager at a Wendy’s franchise, taking the bill four times her annual salary.

Weller was later given half the original price and then a payment plan, according to the Times report, she didn’t pay anything off the bill.

She did say that her credit score was destroyed as a result of the late payments. Weller described the calls she received: “It was like they were following a script. Like robots.’

Another harrowing story in the Times feature came from a real-life Providence employee, Bev Kolpin.

She said that while she was working as an ultrasound technician for a Providence, Oregon hospital, she had to take time off to have a cyst removed. The free time was unpaid.

Kolpin said she was given an $8,000 bill even though she qualified for Medicaid. She said, “I felt a little betrayed. I had worked for them and given so much, and they gave me nothing.’

Ultimately, Kolpin was forced to pay $4,000 after having a lawyer negotiate with Providence.

While a 66-year-old woman named Alexandra Nyfors was taken by ambulance to Providence Hospital in Everett, Washington, in October 2021. Nyfors, 66, has diabetes and suffered from dehydration, which caused her kidneys to fail.

Nyfors’ sole source of income was $1,700 in federal disability benefits. After her hospital treatment, Nyfors was handed a bill for nearly $2,000.

After agreeing to pay the hospital a monthly payment of $162.50, she began cutting back significantly on medicines and groceries and went without heating all winter.

After Nyfors did an interview with the Everett Daily Herald, the hospital eventually agreed to cancel its debt and refund the money already paid.

She told the paper that it wasn’t until she learned that Washington State had filed a lawsuit against Providence that she realized it was illegal for them to ask her to pay.

Despite the treatment by the hospital management, Nyfors had nothing but good things to say about the staff.

Nyfors explained to the Daily Herald, “I feel it’s very important to separate the people who are the caretakers from what Providence does, where they demand payment.”

She added: ‘The carers are good people, who really care. They took really good care of me.’

She told the Times that in June 2022 she received a letter from Providence Hospital asking for a charitable donation. The letter said, “No gift is too small to have a meaningful impact.”

Meanwhile, Harriet Haffner-Ratliffe, 20, was charged $2,300 after giving birth to twins at a Providence hospital in Olympia, Washington, in 2017.

She was eligible to have her bills covered — but Providence didn’t tell her, and instead fumbled her with a bill she couldn’t pay.

The unemployed teen also couldn’t afford the $100-a-month payment plan Providence imposed on her.

She was eventually chased by debt collectors. As a result, Haffner-Ratliffe’s credit score dropped by 200 points, making it even more difficult for her to manage her finances.

In 2021, Dr. Hochman quoted by saying that ‘non-profit health care is a misnomer’. It’s tax-free care. It’s still making a profit.’

The Times report says Providence has become a “financial powerhouse” under Hochman.

The article goes on to say that Hochman received $10 million in 2020, while Providence purchased 18 new hospital facilities.

In a separate 2018 article, the Times reported that Hochman also got $10 million.

The name Rev-Up was a reference to revenue growth, according to the Times. The “playbook” given to the administrative staff told them, among other things, that regardless of a patient’s economic status, “payment is expected.”

Employees were encouraged to ask questions such as, “How do you want to pay today?” Training material told staff: ‘Don’t accept the first ‘No’. The Times describes informing patients about financial aid as a “last resort.”

The Times report goes on to say that staff would mock the hospital’s aggressive tactics; one Halloween, a staff member dressed in a professional wrestler-themed costume, his character was called Rev-Up Ricky.

Another staff member wore a suit with “a giant cardboard dollar sign with ‘How’ printed on it,” a reference to the hospital’s policy of asking patients how they would pay.

Providence, located in Renton, Wash., has 51 hospitals and nearly 1,000 clinics.

It reported an operating loss of $214 million for the first nine months of 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as costs increased 4 percent and patient volume declined 10 percent.

But the health system’s reserve of cash and investments rose to $14.5 billion on Sept. 30 — up $2.2 billion from nine months earlier.

A spokesperson said this was largely due to $1.6 billion in Medicare coronavirus loans to be repaid.

Providence also received $682 million in CARES Act grants and $9 million initially from FEMA. The hospital chain said it plans to make more requests to FEMA for an unspecified amount.

Providence said it will follow all federal rules when seeking disaster relief. FEMA officials have reminded applicants not to seek funding for work or expenses covered by the CARES Act or other sources.

“We are doing everything we can to avoid double dips,” Providence said in a statement.

Providence said it needs money to offset COVID-related costs as the pandemic “enters what appears to be its most dangerous phase,” Reuters reported in December 2020.