MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare will stop a controversial practice of suing employees for past-due balances, and will begin paying employees a minimum wage of $15, the Memphis hospital group said Tuesday.
Methodist announced a 30-day suspension to review bill collection practices earlier this month after more than a year of investigating by ProPublica and MLK:50 showed Methodist had filed 8,300 lawsuits in the past five years, some against their own employees.
The nonprofit, Christian healthcare system will now use legal action as a last resort and will work with patients who struggle with the ability to pay by providing several options. Collections and billing will now be done internally, and billing associates are being retrained, hospital officials said.
For employees who have been sued, they are dropping litigation, and they will no longer garnish their employees’ pay or pursue future legal action to collect.
