The policy, which blocked patients with medical debt from scheduling non-emergency and outpatient appointments, was paused by Allina earlier this summer.
MINNEAPOLIS — Editor’s note: The video above first aired in June 2023.
Minneapolis-based Allina Health announced it is ending a controversial billing practice that garnered national attention following a New York Times investigation published earlier this summer.
The Times’ report alleged that Allina instructed staff to cancel or lockout non-emergency appointments for patients who have reached $4,500 of unpaid medical debt, even though the health system reports $4 billion in annual revenue and avoids hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes as a nonprofit hospital.
In June, Allina announced it was pausing the practice while the healthcare system re-examined its policies.
On Wednesday, Allina Health said in part in a statement that they “determined there are opportunities to engage our clinical teams and technology differently to provide financial assistance resources for patients who need this support. We will formally …