Attorney General Of New Mexico Opens Investigation Into Patient Care At Private Equity Hospital

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(PatriotWise.com) — New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez last week launched a probe into a for-profit medical center in Las Cruces to determine if it violated state laws by refusing to treat low-income and indigent patients.

According to a recent report on NBC News, Memorial Medical Center, a hospital run by the for-profit company Lifepoint Health, refused to accept a Las Cruces cancer patient’s Affordable Care Act insurance, forcing her and her husband to quit their jobs and move to Albuquerque so she could undergo chemotherapy at a hospital that accepted her insurance coverage.

NBC News said in the June 5 report that by refusing to accept a patient’s health insurance, the privately-run facility violated the terms of the deal it reached with Las Cruces and Dona Ana County in 2004, which expressly stated that Memorial Medical Center must provide care to those who are unable to pay the full cost of treatment.

In a July 16 press release from the New Mexico Department of Justice, Attorney General Torrez said an initial review indicated that Memorial Medical Center was either refusing care or requiring advanced full payment from Medicaid-eligible and uninsured patients, forcing them to seek treatment elsewhere.

During a press conference last week, Torrez told reporters that he met with Memorial Medical Center providers and patients to hear their concerns and concluded that the medical center’s management had failed to give “the well-being and safety” of patients the “proper priority.”

Torrez accused Memorial Medical Center of placing profit over patient care and warned the facility’s management not to retaliate against those who speak out.

According to the press release, the attorney general’s office would investigate whether the medical center violated the Unfair Practices Act, the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act, or the Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act.

Torrez also called on others to contact his office if they experienced similar problems getting treatment at the Las Cruces hospital or any other medical facility in the state.

He said that patients should not be denied life-saving treatment simply because they hold the wrong insurance policy or lack the financial resources to pay.