Marshall sued more than 700 patients; 81 arrested for missing court dates
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., was sued Thursday by a former patient of his medical practice in a class action that accuses him of charging illegal interest rates on unpaid medical bills.
The lawsuit accuses Marshall of charging patients up to 18% annual interest, exceeding the state’s limit of 15%. Its lead plaintiff, Meischa Zimmerman, was a patient of Marshall’s former clinic, Heartland Regional OBGYN.
Zimmerman alleges the clinic would often target low-income and uninsured mothers in “callous and predatory” debt collection schemes.
“Obviously, I think a jury will place a dollar value on our complaint over charging 18% usury rate on medical debt, but I will let the legal document speak for itself,” attorney Kent Roth told NPR affiliate KCUR.
Marshall sued more than 700 patients over medical debt during his 25 years as an obstetrician-gynecologist, The New York Times reported. Zimmerman is among the patients he sued.
Some 81 of those patients were arrested for missing court dates, according to the Times report.
Steven Johnson, the lawyer who sued patients on Marshall’s behalf, told the Times that the collection efforts were “pretty much the way it works in the state of Kansas.”
“Generally, at the time of services for all our clients if they were not paid up front, the Debtor agreed to an 18 percent interest rate,” Johnson said.
Marshall is running for reelection against Democrat Adam Hamilton, a Methodist minister.