DENVER — As the Colorado’s largest and most prominent medical provider insisted it was “not hiding anything,” an exhaustive investigation discovered UCHealth, for years, used what amounted to a loophole in the state’s court system to keep private its aggressive bill collection practices. The investigation, led by 9NEWS and the Colorado Sun, prompted the state legislature to quickly close the loophole that had allowed UCHealth to sue thousands of patients for years under another business’ name. UCHealth is short for University of Colorado Health.
Legislators called the project’s findings “shocking” as they quickly passed HB-1380 which will, starting this fall, force hospital systems to sue patients under their own names on debts the systems still own. RELATED: UCHealth sues thousands of patients every year. But you won’t find its name on the lawsuits.
RELATED: Hospitals can no longer quietly sue patients under another business name following 9NEWS Investigates report Among the key findings uncovered by the investigation : In early 2020 and unbeknownst to legislators and the public at large, UCHealth quietly ended its yearslong practice of suing patients under its own name. The decision allowed UCHealth to continue to sue patients – roughly eight per day for years – with virtually no way to track its legal efforts. As UCHealth allowed two of its third-party debt collectors to use their names as plaintiffs, it turned a once-transparent process into a conf.
