HSE spent €568,000 on debt collectors to pursue patients for unpaid hospital bills

 30th January 2021

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The Health Service Executive (HSE) spent more than €568,503 on debt collectors to pursue patients for unpaid hospital bills as the Covid-19 pandemic raged.

New figures show that in 2020, the HSE continued to use debt collection agencies to chase patients who fail to pay up. It paid out €687,214 to debt collectors in 2019 and €574,515 in 2018.

Patients who attend at public hospitals are, depending on their eligibility and subject to certain exemptions, liable to statutory charges, the HSE said in a parliamentary question from Dublin Fine Gael TD Emer Higgins.

“These are levied under the provisions of the 1970 Health Act. The charges are €100 for an Emergency Department attendance and €80 for an overnight stay, the latter charge is capped at €800 in any 12-month period,” the HSE said.

“The HSE has a statutory obligation to levy and collect these charges and hospitals have the discretion to operate payment plans where appropriate.”

Sarah Anderson, a senior manager in the finance section of the HSE, said that the Covid-19 pandemic had a profound effect on activity in public hospitals in 2020.

Ms Anderson stated that patients suffering from Covid-19 were “exempt from statutory charges”.

She said hospitals are required to refer an unpaid debt to a collection agency after a period of time from date of billing.

“If any patient has difficulty paying a hospital bill, the regulations allow for the hospital and the patient to agree an instalment arrangement.”

The figures for 2020 show that Mayo University Hospital spent the highest amount on debt collectors at €106,000, followed by Cork University Hospital, which had an outlay of €99,784.

University Hospital Galway spent €51,287 and Connolly Hospital Dublin spent €32,094. Waterford Hospital paid out €27,121 on debt-collection services and St Luke’s Kilkenny spent €13,455.

Earlier this year, the Irish Cancer Society asked the HSE to re-examine the use of debt collection agencies for cancer patients.

It said some cancer patients were receiving letters and phone calls after treatment that “were designed to intimidate”.