CQC delivers patient stories to House Ways and Means Committee members as Congress prepares to examine hospital pricing practices

WASHINGTON – As  large hospital corporations continue to crush individuals and families with high and opaque pricing, predatory billing practices, and aggressive debt collection, Consumers for Quality Care (CQC) provided news-documented patient stories to members of the House Ways and Means Committee ahead of the committee’s hearing today non hospital pricing. The cases underscore the lived consequences of predatory hospital practices that many Americans continue to confront.

CQC is also sharing its Nonprofit Hospital Scorecard for each state represented by members of the committee. These scorecards highlight hospitals’ ongoing failures in charity care, pricing transparency, medical debt protections, and patient safety on a state-by-state basis.

The documentation shared with Congressional offices includes cases that reflect:

• Predatory billing practices that push patients and families into devastating medical debt
• Financial policies that force individuals to choose between receiving care or going deeper into debt
• Systemic patterns of conduct that compromise patient access and affordability
• Real-world examples of how hospital systems are bleeding consumers dry and contributing to rising health care costs for Americans

The patient stories delivered to the Ways and Means Committee represent only a fraction of the hardship that hospital systems are inflicting on Americans every day. With more than 100 million people carrying medical debt they may never pay off, Congress must act. Patients deserve accountability and reform.