North Carolina hospital company forgives debts of 11,500 people after NBC News report

Less than a week after NBC News detailed how the hospital system Atrium Health of North Carolina aggressively pursued former patients’ medical debts, placing liens on their homes to collect on hospital bills, the nonprofit company announced it would cancel those obligations and forgive the unpaid debts associated with them. Some 11,500 liens on people’s homes in North Carolina and five other states will be released, Atrium’s parent company, Advocate Health, said with some dating back 20 years or more.

Advocate Health said it is changing its policy now as “the next logical step” following a 2022 decision to stop filing lawsuits and property liens to collect on patients’ medical debts. The company declined NBC News’ request for an interview about the shift.

For more on this story, tune in to “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT or check your local listings.

Reporting on the nationwide problem of medical debt last week, NBC News focused on Terry Belk, 68, a Charlotte resident whose wife died of breast cancer in 2012 and who was himself later diagnosed with prostate cancer. Both his wife’s treatment and Belk’s own racked up tens of thousands of dollars in bills their insurance did not cover. When Belk could not afford to pay them, Atrium Health pursued him in court, the company confirmed. In 2005, Belk signed what’s called a deed of trust with Atrium, granting it the right to receive $23,000 when he sold his family home.

Belk said he was stunned to receive a phone call from an Atrium Health executive Tuesday advising him that his debts would be forgiven. “There’s no way this would have happened without national coverage by NBC News,” Belk said.

Rebecca Cerese, health policy advocate at North Carolina Justice Center, a nonprofit fighting poverty in the state, said she was very pleasantly surprised by Atrium’s move and hopes other hospitals will follow suit. “I’m really thankful that folks like Terry have had the courage to speak out about something that is difficult to speak out on,” Cerese told NBC News. “Dealing with an illness or loss of a loved one is hard enough — we should not be compounding that with this additional stress of facing financial ruin.”

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