MCIR Reader Pays Debt of St. Dominic Cancer Patient Sued by Collections Agency

A Mississippi woman had her medical debt paid off following a project published by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.

St. Dominic Knew Patients Couldn't Afford Care. It Sued Them Anyway.

As McDaniel waited in her Toyota Prius for the light to turn green, a silver BMW sedan driven by a 16-year-old girl barrelled through the intersection, police said, failing to yield to an SUV turning left.

The two cars collided, knocking the SUV into McDaniel and spinning her car around.

Mississippi News, News, Price for Healthcare, Public HealthKatherine MitchellAugust 6, 2021St Dominic, The Painful Price for Healthcare, Debt collection, car accident, cancer, Patty McDaniel, medical debt, low-wage industries, garnished wages, Linda Burks, Jackson Mississippi

Patients Go To St. Dominic. Private Debt Collectors Go After Them.

They had a house picked out, Cooper said, when she got a phone call about their loan.

“It broke my heart,” Cooper recalled. “Immediately my stomach fell to my feet. I started crying.”

Mississippi Hospitals Are Suing Patients Over Medical Debt. Here's How To Fix That.

An investigation by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting found the billing and collections practices of St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson had devastating impacts on patients.

Mississippi News, News, Price for Healthcare, Public HealthKatherine MitchellAugust 6, 2021St Dominic, The Painful Price for Healthcare, Debt collection, medical debt, low-wage industries, Jackson Mississippi, nonprofit hospital, Advanced Recovery Systems, lawsuit, justice court, Mississippi Center for Justice, debt collection, sue, medicaid expansion

How We Did It

This week, the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting published a project looking into nonprofit hospitals and medical debt lawsuits.