In New York, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Northwell Health hospital led by the governors' close ally continued to get sued over medical liability despite New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo orders to government-controlled hospitals to halt litigating patients, and even after other major private hospitals in the state voluntarily followed and deferred lawsuits and suspending their claims.
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The Northwell Health chain of hospitals, the state's most extensive health system, has plowed thousands of lawsuits ahead even if it is run by one of Mr. Cuomo's closest partners.
Records show that last year, the nonprofit Northwell sued more than 2,500 patients each sought an average of $1,700 in unpaid bills, plus large interest payments. It is a litigation flood even as the plague has led to extensive work losses and economic ambiguity.
The Northwell lawsuits hit construction workers, grocery store employees, teachers, and others, including some who got sick themselves and had lost work in the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A 37 years old hotel worker in the state Carlos Castillo, said, "My salary was cut in half. I'm now working only two days a week. And now I have to deal with this." He was charged $4,043 after being hospitalized at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, a part of the Northwell system, with a seizure. Mr. Castillo said he was anxious that the hospital would take hold of his wages, leaving him inept to pay rent.
On Tuesday morning, Northwell immediately announced it would stop taking legal action against patients during the Covid-19 pandemic and withdraw all legal claims filed in 2020.
In recent years, medical debt claims across the nation have increasingly grown as health care costs have augmented and insurance firms have implemented larger deductibles and copayments, transferring more of the weight onto the insured. In court cases, Rarely are contested and typically lead to default judgments, permitting infirmaries to extract money by garnishing salaries and freezing accounts, even without the patient's knowledge.
According to filings in courts research around the state, since March, about 50 other small New York hospitals located upstate have been pursuing claims through the courts with a total of 5,000 patients. Thus, Northwell had not been alone.
Because of its connections to Mr. Cuomo and a sheer number of its lawsuits, Northwell stood out. NewYork-Presby'n and NYU Langone Health and other prominent New York City hospital systems mostly postponed complaints during the pandemic. It is uncertain when they might start prosecuting once more.
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The Northwell system received the stimulus emergency $1.2 billion funding package under the federal CARES Act last year. It operates 23 hospitals, including Lenox Hill Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and North Shore University Hospital. It brings about $12.5 billion in annual revenue, and records show, still sued over unpaid $700 small bills last year.
Michael Dowling, Northwell's chief executive officer, was former Gov. Mario Cuomo's state health director and deputy secretary, the current governor's late father. For more than three decades, Dowling has been the younger Cuomo's close friend.
Mr. Dowling has served as the governor's closest supporter in the hospital industry and all state's state hospitals' liaison during the pandemic. He delivered messages, led a council to increase hospitals' bed capacity, overseen patient transfers, set up meetings, and worked on antibody test results studies to identify hot spots for the virus with the state for Mr. Cuomo.
