The United States is awash in medical debt. How much is there? Hard to say but Kaiser Family Foundation has an estimate of $220 billion and, yes, that’s billion with a b.
Enter CFPB, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which believes there is a lot of double billing, inflated charges and downright illegal medical debt collection tactics.
CFPB is looking at banning reporting of medical debt to credit bureaus which the agency says unjustly lowers the credit scores of some 15 million Americans.
Which is why we brought Jeff Grobaski back on the show. CEO of Fort Collins CO based Epic River, a lending as a service provider that helps medical practitioners and hospitals place their unpaid debts at credit unions which pay no fees for the paper and, even better, the credit union assumes little risk.
Nada.
Grobaski was on the show a year ago but the question now is how do the CFPB proposals impact what Epic River is doing?
The other question is why are hospitals and doctors happily turning that paper over to Epic River. Grobaski explains in the show. It really is a win-win-win, for the patient with debts, for the medical provider with bad paper on his books, and for the credit union that can turn that loan into performing paper and in the process acquire a new member.
This sounds too good to be true? Listen to Grobaski – he gives the nuts and bolts in the show.
Grobaski, incidentally, is a finalist in this year’s credit union luminaries sweepstakes. As the pub said, “Under Grobaski’s leadership, Epic River has been able to connect credit unions with local health care providers to improve patients’ ability to pay through low- or no-interest loans. Epic River’s program accelerates patient payment, minimizes collection expenses and enhances cash flow for participating health care providers.”
