Minnesota expands lawsuit against hospital debt firm

ST. PAUL — Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has added new material to her lawsuit against a Chicago firm that helped some Minnesota hospitals collect debt from patients.

Swanson filed new legal documents Tuesday in her lawsuit against Accretive Health Inc., including affidavits from more than two dozen patients who felt pressured to pay while waiting for care. The patients say they feared they would not get needed medical treatment if they didn't pay on the spot.

Accretive provided revenue management services to Fairview Health Services and North Memorial Health Care. Fairview terminated the company's contract after Swanson sued in January.

Swanson is alleging that Accretive violated state and federal debt collection laws and violated consumers' health care privacy rights.

Accretive spokeswoman Ruth Pachman says Swanson's filings contain "mischaracterizations and distortions" and the company will seek have the lawsuit dismissed.

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