North Carolina hospitals — led by the state's largest public medical system — have sued thousands of their patients since 2017, according to a new analysis that sheds additional light on the aggressive tactics U.S. hospitals routinely use to collect from people who fall behind on their bills. The report, produced by the state treasurer and Duke University School of Law researchers, and related patient interviews offer harrowing accounts of people pursued for tens of thousands of dollars and often surprised by liens that hospitals placed on family homes. In some cases, spouses were targeted after their partners died. In others, patients interviewed by researchers said they'd been surprised to learn about property liens only after they tried to sell their homes or after a parent who owned the home died. "I know my house will never be mine. It is going to be the hospital's," said Donna Lindabury, 70, whose home was targeted by Charlotte-based Atrium Health, which won a $192,000 judgment against her and her 79-year-old husband over his 2009 heart surgery. Interest on the debt represented more than half of the couple's balance. Lindabury said the hospital originally told them they could get assistance with the bills, but then denied their applications for aid. "People, where their God is money, they just don't care,” she told researchers. The North Carolina findings reinforce an investigation by KFF Health News and NPR, which found that most U.S. hospitals maintain policies to aggressively pursue patients for unpaid bills, using tactics such as lawsuits, selling patient accounts to debt buyers, and reporting patients to credit rating agencies. Nationwide, about 100 million people — 41% of adults — have some form of health care debt, according to a KFF poll. Medical debt is most widespread in the South, where chronic disease is more prevalent and many states haven't expanded their Medicaid safety net through the Affordable Care Act. (North Carolina expanded Medicaid only this year.) The North Carolina state treasurer released the new report as a growing number of states, including North Carolina, are working to expand protections for patients, often in the face of hospital industry lobbying. "It's just another example of hospitals putting profits ahead of patients. It's like an onion. The more you peel it back, the more you cry," said Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican who for years has challenged hospital pricing and debt collection practices. "They should stop breaking people's kneecaps to collect these debts." Atrium and other large tax-exempt health systems are under scrutiny amid mounting evidence that many aren't providing adequate financial assistance to low-income patients and are leaving people who should qualify for aid with big bills. The new report, based on an analysis of 5½ years of court records from 2017 to 2022, identified 5,922 debt collection lawsuits that targeted more than 7,500 patients and their family members. The suits generated more than $57 million in judgments for the hospitals, researchers found, including millions of dollars in interest charges and other fees assessed against patients and their families. North Carolina law allows hospitals to charge 8% annual interest on outstanding debts, which added tens of thousands of dollars to some families' debts over the years, the researchers found. Overall, interest accounted for almost a third of the total judgments recorded in the debt cases. The report also noted that the lawsuits undermine the financial security of generations of North Carolinians. Hospitals can pursue family members for a patient's medical debt, and property liens sap the value of a home, even after a patient dies. "These lawsuits can thus target a family's primary source of equity for surviving spouses and children," the authors wrote. "Medical debt can fuel an intergenerational cycle of poverty." Related Stories
Researchers found that the most aggressive debt collector was Atrium, a medical system with roots as a public hospital in Charlotte that, following a merger last year with Midwest-based Advocate Aurora, is now a multistate colossus with $27 billion in annual revenue. Atrium filed almost 2,500 lawsuits against patients from Jan. 1, 2017, to June 30, 2022. Atrium also pushes patients who can't afford medical bills into loans from private equity-backed lender AccessOne that can come with interest rates as high as 13%, a KFF Health News investigation found last year. Atrium declined to address questions about the lawsuits on the record or to make chief executive Eugene Woods available to discuss its debt collection practices. The second-most litigious system is much smaller. CaroMont Health in Gastonia, North Carolina, a small city about 20 miles west of Charlotte, operates just one inpatient hospital. But it filed almost 1,800 lawsuits against patients from 2017 to mid-2022, according to the report. CaroMont declined to make chief executive Chris Peek available for an interview, but a spokesperson said the system only rarely sues. "We take seriously our obligation to partner with patients in all aspects of medical care and service, and we always try to resolve these matters with compassion," Meghan Berney said in a statement. In contrast to Atrium and CaroMont, some North Carolina hospitals filed only one or two lawsuits against their patients from 2017 to 2022, the researchers, led by Duke law professor Barak Richman, found. Similar analyses of court records in Wisconsin, New York, Maryland, and other states in recent years have uncovered extensive use of the court system by hospitals. And KFF Health News found last year that more than two-thirds of U.S. hospitals sue patients or take other legal action against them, such as garnishing wages or placing liens on property. That analysis was based on an investigation of a sample of more than 500 hospitals nationwide. The attention on these debt collection activities has helped catalyze state efforts to expand protections for patients. Several states, including Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, and New York, have enacted medical debt laws in recent years. In North Carolina, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers have been pushing legislation that would restrict some collection activities by hospitals, including capping interest rates that medical providers could charge on patient debt and limiting collections against family members. Earlier this year, the state Senate unanimously passed the bill, called the Medical Debt De-Weaponization Act. But the bill has stalled in the House amid opposition from the state's powerful hospital industry, whose political action committee has made more than $260,000 in campaign contributions since 2022, according to WBTV, the CBS affiliate in Charlotte. Among the biggest beneficiaries of hospital industry largesse is the speaker of the North Carolina House, Republican Tim Moore, the station reported. Moore's office did not respond to inquiries from KFF Health News. This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

North Carolina hospitals have sued thousands of their patients, a new report finds

Atrium , a New York-based extended workforce management and talent solutions company, acquired a majority interest in Gibbs Hybrid, a London, UK-based IT and business services firm. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. With the acquisition, Atrium will expand its global footprint by adding a London, UK headquarters and offices in Ireland, Poland, and Luxembourg. Led by Farida Gibbs, Founder and CEO, Gibbs Hybrid is a IT & Business Services firm providing a “Hybrid Approach” to corporations with Project Consultancy, Strategic Resourcing and Talent Services across UK, Europe, Middle East & Africa and US. The company uses a mixed model that offers both technology, business and operations strategic resourcing and technical/business consultancy solutions. This integrated and hybrid approach allows clients to engage with a single preferred partner for multiple services using differing and flexible models based on their requirements. Led by Rebecca Cenni-Leventhal, Founder and CEO, Atrium is a WBENC-certified staffing and extended workforce management company. Its offerings include Talent Solutions, Managed Service Provider (MSP), EOR Payrolling Services, Independent Contractor Compliance Technology, Direct Sourcing, and Early Talent Administration Programs through virtual and traditional means. Solutions fully integrate with HR technology, such as digital recruitment and onboarding, freelancer management tools, applicant tracking, and vendor management systems. FinSMEs

Atrium Acquires Gibbs Hybrid

On Jun 5, 2023
Atrium, a leading Extended Workforce Management and Talent Solutions company, announced the expansion of its global operations through the acquisition of a majority interest in London, UK-based IT and Business Services Firm Gibbs Hybrid. This acquisition enhances Atrium’s ability to provide leading-edge Talent and Workforce Solutions for international clients while extending Gibbs Hybrid’s suite of offerings in Contingent Program Management and Total Talent Management to its portfolio of customers operating in EMEA and beyond. At a time of unprecedented change in how companies deploy their holistic workforce strategies, Atrium and Gibbs Hybrid amplify each other’s capabilities to deliver flexible, data-driven, custom-designed workforce solutions that help organizations successfully navigate the challenges of today’s rapidly evolving talent landscape. “Atrium is committed to continuing to expand our international delivery capabilities and the innovative, next-generation Talent and Workforce Management solution offerings that we’ve come to be known for,” said Rebecca Cenni-Leventhal , founder and CEO of Atrium. “While evaluating potential synergistic opportunities in EMEA, it became abundantly clear that Gibbs Hybrid’s track record of nearly two decades of success, shared passion for exquisite customer service, and alignment in core company values made it a natural fit for Atrium. In addition, as a WBENC-certified company, joining forces with Europe’s largest MSDUK-certified minority woman-owned business will further empower us collectively in our Forward Together mission to champion Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”
Headquartered in New York City and with offices across the United States and Canada, this acquisition further expands Atrium’s global footprint by adding a London, UK headquarters and offices in Ireland, Poland, and Luxembourg. Farida Gibbs, Founder, and CEO of Gibbs Hybrid, commented, “When we first began discussions with Atrium, the strong corresponding values shared by our two companies quickly became apparent. Since its inception, Gibbs Hybrid has built a powerful brand rooted in customer-centricity, belief in our people, and excellence in execution. We are so excited to join forces with such a like-minded organization, which has led the way in Talent Solutions and Workforce Management for nearly three decades.” Farida continued, “Being a minority women-owned business, we understand the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce and the supply chain. By joining the Atrium family, we can continue to help our customers build inclusive teams that drive success, guidance, and mentorship, and more importantly, become role models for our industry.”
Together, Atrium and Gibbs Hybrid will continue to serve some of the world’s most recognizable brands, providing innovative Talent Solutions, next-generation MSP programs, Direct Sourcing, Early Talent Administration, and Workforce Technology expertise. As the utilization of the Extended Workforce continues to evolve as a critical strategic imperative for large enterprises, this acquisition serves as a force multiplier, maximizing the ability for Atrium and Gibbs Hybrid to collectively deliver industry-leading services and innovative solutions to organizations worldwide.

Atrium Expands its Global Footprint with Acquisition of Talent Solutions and IT Consulting Provider Gibbs Hybrid

New York tech firm buys UK IT specialist
Gibbs Hybrid was founded by Farida Gibbs and claims to be Europe’s largest certified minority woman-owned business
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IT and business services firm Gibbs Hybrid has been acquired by New York-headquartered Atrium, a leading extended workforce management and talent solutions company. Gibbs Hybrid is Europe’s largest certified minority woman-owned business and works across the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the US. Farida Gibbs, founder and CEO, of Gibbs Hybrid, said: “When we first began discussions with Atrium, the strong corresponding values shared by our two companies quickly became apparent. “Since its inception, Gibbs Hybrid has built a powerful brand rooted in customer-centricity, belief in our people, and excellence in execution. We are so excited to join forces with such a like-minded organisation, which has led the way in talent solutions and workforce management for nearly three decades. “Being a minority women-owned business, we understand the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce and the supply chain. By joining the Atrium family, we can continue to help our customers build inclusive teams that drive success, guidance, and mentorship, and more importantly, become role models for our industry.”
Rebecca Cenni-Leventhal, founder and CEO of Atrium, said: “Atrium is committed to continuing to expand our international delivery capabilities and the innovative, next-generation talent and workforce management solution offerings that we’ve come to be known for. “While evaluating potential synergistic opportunities in EMEA, it became abundantly clear that Gibbs Hybrid’s track record of nearly two decades of success, shared passion for exquisite customer service, and alignment in core company values made it a natural fit for Atrium.”
Headquartered in New York City and with offices across the US and Canada, this acquisition further expands Atrium’s global footprint by adding a London headquarters. Led by founder and CEO, Farida Gibbs, Gibbs Hybrid has pioneered a mixed model that offers both high-quality technology, business and operations strategic resourcing and technical/business consultancy solutions. This integrated and hybrid approach allows clients to engage with a single preferred partner for multiple services using differing and flexible models to do so, based on their requirements.

New York tech firm buys UK IT specialist

Reinsurance News
Atrium has appointed Peter Laidlaw to be an active underwriter on its roster, starting at the beginning of next year. Laidlaw’s appointment comes as existing active underwriter Toby Drysdale moves to take on an advisory role as director of corporate underwriting review with responsibility for consulting the Board and providing underwriting review services to the Group. Richard Harries, CEO at Atrium Underwriters, commented: “I am delighted that Peter has accepted the role of active underwriter of Atrium Syndicate 609. This move comes as part of our long-term succession plan and with over 29 years at Atrium, Peter has long been the standout candidate to take over from Toby. He added: “Toby has been an exceptional active underwriter and we at Atrium, our Names and Shareholders owe him a huge debt of gratitude. I’m pleased that Toby has agreed to stay on and support the business and we’re very fortunate he has agreed to do so.”
According to the firm’s website, Drysdale joined Syndicate 609 in 1993 and was appointed Deputy Underwriter of Syndicate 609 in 2008. At that time, he was also appointed to the Board of Atrium Underwriters Limited. He has been in his current role since January 2016. Laidlaw, meanwhile, joined the Syndicate 570 in 1993 and has headed up the accident and health team since 2004. He is a member of the LMA Personal Accident Sub-Committee. Atrium has been in the headlines here at Reinsurance News for less-than-salutatory reasons this year. In March, the firm was fined over £1m by Lloyd’s for non-financial misconduct after it was found guilty of three charges. As we reported at the time , the first charge was that Atrium failed to give notice of misconduct to Lloyd’s, the second involved bullying within the company by an unnamed employee towards a junior member of staff, and the third was that the firm had engaged in detrimental conduct related to ‘Boys’ Night Out’ events. Those events, said Lloyd’s contained, “[…] unprofessional and inappropriate conduct, including initiation games, heavy drinking, and making inappropriate and sexualised comments about female colleagues, which were both discriminatory and harassing to female members of staff.”
These events, said Lloyd’s, had been led, participated in, and condoned by two senior managers who had been in attendance.

Atrium appoints Peter Laidlaw as active underwriter

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Atrium LTS operates as a legal technology company. The company provides tools and processes to transform the delivery of corporate legal services. It aims to streamline the work that is done in-house to make it more manageable for lawyers and those who work at law firms. It was founded in 2017 and is based in San Francisco, California.

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