Allina Health, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health system, has suspended its policy of cutting off services for patients with outstanding medical debt as it re-evaluates the practice of withholding care for those who owe $4,500 or more. Allina’s emergency room healthcare services were provided to anyone in need, however, other services including those for children and people with conditions like diabetes and depression were not available until the full amount owed was paid back. The move, which Allina’s CEO Lisa Shannon described as a “thoughtful pause,” does not apply retroactively to previously affected patients. Nonetheless, Dr. Matt Hoffman, an Allina primary care physician, welcomed the decision and expressed hope for further reforms. Allina Health operates 13 hospitals and over 90 clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin, avoiding roughly $266 million in taxes in 2020 due to its nonprofit status. The Lown Institute, a healthcare think tank, released this data. Attorney General Keith Ellison of Minnesota has urged affected patients to contact his office. He said, “Allina is bound under the Hospital Agreement to refrain from aggressive billing practices and provide charity care when patients need and qualify for it, as all Minnesota hospitals are.”
