Every Tuesday at 9 a.m., the downtown courtroom of Jackson County Circuit Judge R. Travis Willingham fills with defendants who often owe money for credit‑card debt or small loans. Increasingly, the docket also includes patients who fell ill, received care, and then could not pay the resulting hospital bill.
Rising medical‑debt filings in the KC metro
Patient‑advocacy groups say the trend is spreading across Missouri and Kansas as health‑care costs climb and the share of expenses falling on patients – even those with insurance – grows. An informal review of court records shows Kansas City‑area hospitals have filed hundreds of lawsuits this year alone.
Care Over Collections, a nonprofit tracking medical‑debt cases in Missouri, has logged 3,378 lawsuits since 2023 across seven judicial districts. Those cases represent roughly $4.7 million in judgments, most of which were entered without a lawyer present for the defendant. About 64 % of the cases ended in default judgments – the patient did not appear in court – and more than 70 % resulted in wage garnishments.
Local hospitals’ collection practices
NKC Health, the only independent hospital in the area, reported filing 92 debt‑collection lawsuits in Missouri courts so far in 2026. The University of Kansas Health System, which operates several hospitals, showed about 218 cases in Missouri and 114 in Kansas this year. By contrast, St. Luke’s Health System, AdventHealth and the five for‑profit HCA hospitals in the city have not been listed in the same court‑filing searches.
When asked about the “extraordinary collection activities” such as wage garnishment or liens, NKC Health’s chief financial officer Austin Jones said they are “rare” and occur only after an extensive process to qualify patients for free or discounted care, interest‑free payment plans, and other coverage options. Senior Director of Marketing Amy Schemenauer added that the hospital has no data to quantify the practice but believes it affects less than 0.01 % of patients.
Hospital policies aim to avoid litigation
KU Health System’s vice president of revenue cycle, Colette Lasack, explained that going to court is a last resort. The system sends four billing statements over a 120‑day period, checks for insurance options, investigates eligibility for charity care, and offers interest‑free payment plans for up to five years. Only if those efforts fail does a bill move to collections.
“If there’s anything we can glean from our data that tells us this patient might qualify for charity, we want to act on that,” Lasack said. She acknowledged that some patients are overwhelmed, especially when they have multiple bills from different providers.
Advocates call for stronger guardrails
Mary Shannon, co‑founder of Care Over Collections, argues that medical debt is often treated as discretionary spending, when in reality many patients are simply trying to stay healthy. “We’ve been conditioned to believe that every instance of medical debt is an instance of financial mismanagement,” she said.
Advocates are urging policymakers to establish clearer standards for hospital collection practices, including mandatory eligibility checks for financial assistance before a lawsuit is filed. They also recommend that courts provide better access to legal representation for defendants in civil debt cases.
What patients can do
Both hospital representatives stress the importance of communication. Lasack advises patients to answer phone calls and respond to billing notices promptly. “Pick up the phone and call us,” she said. “Let us know what’s going on because we’re here to help.”
For residents facing a lawsuit, legal‑aid organizations such as Legal Aid of Western Missouri and Kansas Legal Services can provide guidance, though many defendants still appear in court without representation.
Original reporting: The Beacon (Kansas City) — read the source article.
