Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating the medical billing and debt collection practices of UCHealth (University of Colorado Health) and CollectionCenter, Inc., a debt collection company that has filed lawsuits involving UCHealth patients.
A 2025 investigation by the Debt Collection Lab found that UCHealth and CollectionCenter initiated more than 12,700 debt collection lawsuits between 2019 and 2023. These lawsuits resulted in nearly 9,000 judgments against patients, approximately 99% of which were entered by default. The investigation also identified thousands of garnishment requests targeting UCHealth patients’ bank accounts and other assets. Researchers reported that UCHealth patients challenged numerous lawsuits, raising concerns about billing errors, unclear charges, and the collection of disputed medical debt.
Colorado law requires hospitals to follow certain financial assistance and billing procedures before pursuing patients for unpaid medical bills. Federal law also requires nonprofit hospitals, such as UCHealth, to provide financial assistance and follow specific procedures before taking extraordinary collection actions, including filing lawsuits, garnishing wages, or seizing bank accounts.
What Consumers May Have Experienced:
- Receiving a lawsuit from UCHealth or CollectionCenter over an unpaid hospital bill;
- Having wages garnished or money seized from a bank account to satisfy medical debt;
- Discovering that a default judgment was entered against them after they did not respond to a lawsuit;
- Being pursued for a medical bill without receiving information about available financial assistance;
- Receiving bills containing inaccurate, confusing, or disputed charges;
- Paying additional attorney fees and court costs as a result of collection proceedings.
Potential Claims May Include:
- Violations of Colorado hospital financial assistance and medical debt collection requirements;
- Violations of Section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Code concerning nonprofit hospital financial assistance and extraordinary collection actions;
- Violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), where third-party collectors engaged in prohibited collection conduct;
- Improper collection of debts that should have been reduced or forgiven through financial assistance;
- Unlawful or improper wage garnishments and bank account seizures;
- Deceptive or misleading debt collection practices, if supported by the evidence.
Signs You May Be Affected:
- You received a collection lawsuit from UCHealth or CollectionCenter;
- Your wages were garnished, or money was withdrawn from your bank account because of a UCHealth medical bill;
- You received a default judgment for an unpaid hospital bill;
- You were never informed about UCHealth’s financial assistance program before collection activity began;
- You disputed a UCHealth medical bill because the charges were inaccurate or unclear;
- You paid additional court costs or attorney fees because of a medical debt collection lawsuit.
If you received a medical debt collection lawsuit from UCHealth or CollectionCenter, had your wages garnished or bank account seized because of a UCHealth medical bill, or believe you were improperly pursued for medical debt, Migliaccio & Rathod LLP would like to hear from you. Please complete the contact form on this page, send us an email at [email protected], or give us a call at (202) 470-3520.