CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – WBTV’s years-long investigation into medical debt is about to pay off for one Charlotte man and thousands of people stuck with debt from hospital bills they can’t afford.
Atrium, now under parent company Advocate Health, recently announced a new medical debt relief policy it claims will wipe away more than 11,500 lawsuits and liens filed against patients in five states, including North Carolina.
One of the people ready to benefit from the healthcare conglomerate’s new plan is Terry Belk. WBTV was the first to interview Belk in 2022 when he contacted the station to share his story about the burden of medical debt. WBTV has reported nearly 20 separate stories over the last few years highlighting the toll medical debt takes on patients and their families.
Belk has gone on to advocate across North Carolina for medical debt reform. Recently, NBC News also told Belk’s story to a national audience.
Belk said he believes sharing his story with WBTV and other news outlets helped push the hospital system to make the change.
“They’re getting publicity that they probably really don’t want or need because this thing was going under the radar for a while,” Belk said. “A lot of people were afraid to speak up because a lot of people were still receiving treatment.”
Belk reached out to WBTV this week after he said he received a call from Atrium/Advocate informing him they were going to wipe away the debt they had against him, including liens on his home.
“I was very ecstatic,” Belk told WBTV Thursday.
Belk has been burdened by his medical debt and his wife’s for decades.
“She put everything, that we had into this house and to see that I had a chance at losing it, it just was too much to bear,” Belk said.
Belk’s wife Sandra lost her life to cancer in 2012. With medical debt mounting during her treatment, in 2005 they signed a deed of trust with Atrium, now Advocate Health, giving the hospital more than $23,000 worth of equity against his house. Another lawsuit filed against him by the hospital brought the total debt to more than $30,000 and Belk estimates with interest it was more than $40,000.
Belk said he tried protecting his wife from the mounting bills as she battled for her life.
“I would hide them and spread them. You know, so she would not see it. So we could just focus on her getting better,” Belk said.
A press release from Advocate Health states the hospital system is canceling all judgment liens placed on homes and real estate that were part of its medical debt collection efforts. The hospital says it plans to cancel 11,500 liens across five states going back 20 years or more.
Advocate Health says this new policy had been in the works since 2022 and is not related to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s debt relief plan gives hospitals additional Medicaid payments in exchange for canceling certain debt.
As recently as 2021 our investigations found Atrium/Advocate had filed lawsuits against 100 people in the Charlotte area to collect on medical debt. In 2022 the hospital system refiled the lien against Belk’s house.
North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell has been a vocal critic of medical debt collection policies from Atrium and hospitals for years. He complimented the healthcare system for announcing the plan.
The hospital’s press release says patients facing lawsuits from Atrium or Advocate won’t have to do anything to cancel their debt and they’re working on clearing the oldest cases like Belk’s first.
For more details about the lien relief plan visit https://www.advocatehealth.org/liens/.
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