Doctor Sued More Than 700 Patients Over Medical Bills as Low as $101, Now He's a Republican Senator
A $101 (£76) medical debt was enough to trigger a lawsuit, according to court records. For another patient, a $3,596 (£2,718) childbirth bill was later said to have grown to more than $7,000 (£5,291) with interest.
In total, Republican Senator Roger Marshall and his medical practice sued more than 700 former patients over unpaid medical bills during his 25-year career as an obstetrician-gynaecologist, while court records show 81 patients were arrested after missing hearings connected to the cases.
Marshall Sued Hundreds of Former Patients
About half of the lawsuits were filed under Marshall's name, while the remainder were brought by Heartland Regional OBGYN, the practice he solely owned from 1998 to 2012 and then co-owned until 2019. The cases involved debts ranging from several thousand dollars to as little as $101 (£76), with some patients facing wage or bank-account garnishments.
Many of those sued lived in Barton County, a rural area with above-average poverty and uninsured rates. Some were new mothers struggling with delivery bills, while others had insurance but still owed part of their medical costs.
Kellie Clutts was sued in 2015 over a $129 (£98) bill at the current exchange rate. She said the charge came from a postpartum visit after her daughter's birth. Marshall sued her when her baby was nine months old and eventually garnished her bank account.
'I had every intention to pay, I was just struggling,' Clutts said.
Patients Faced 18 Percent Annual Interest
The lawsuits could become more expensive as they progressed. Patients were routinely charged 18 per cent annual interest, according to the court records. Marshall's former lawyer, Steven Johnson, said Marshall set the interest rate in a contract patients signed.
Doctors have considerable discretion over unpaid medical bills. They can decide when to send an account to collections, pursue litigation or abandon the debt if a patient appears unable to pay.
Barak Richman, a health law expert at George Washington University, said medical providers vary significantly in how they pursue debt. Neale Mahoney, an economist at Stanford University, said lawsuits against patients were relatively uncommon in research from one state, making Marshall's approach unusual in its extent.
Marshall's spokeswoman, Payton Fuller, said judges, not doctors, issue warrants when people repeatedly miss court dates. However, court records show lawyers representing Marshall and his practice repeatedly requested arrest warrants, including in the case of Joe Vasquez and his wife.
One Patient Was Arrested Three Times
Meischa Zimmerman experienced the consequences repeatedly. She was arrested three times over missed court dates linked to a C-section bill.
The first arrest came in 2011, when Zimmerman was eight months pregnant and at home with her two-year-old daughter. She later recalled asking officers not to handcuff her in front of the child.
Her original $3,596 (£2,718) delivery bill remained unpaid after she was unable to complete a Medicaid application. She eventually arranged a $50 (£38) monthly payment plan, but struggled to maintain it as 18 per cent interest accumulated. She recalled being told the debt had climbed above $7,000 (£5,291).
Zimmerman's final arrest came one week after Marshall won his first congressional election in 2016. Her case was among 81 in which records indicate an arrest occurred. Those debts ranged from $114 (£86), to $4,683 (£3,540).
Marshall Took His Medical Career to Congress
Marshall stopped practising medicine after winning election to Congress in 2016, but some collection activity continued while he served in the House from 2017 to 2021.
He had built a prominent medical career in rural Kansas and frequently promoted that background during his political campaigns. His campaign materials have described him as 'Doc Marshall' and highlighted his work delivering babies and treating low-income patients. In 2015, his combined earnings from his obstetrics practice and hospital were about $780,000 (£589,666).
Marshall was also an investor and board chairman of Great Bend Regional Medical Center, which filed hundreds of lawsuits against patients during years he was involved with the hospital. More than a dozen were filed while he was already serving in Congress and before he sold his ownership stake.
His spokeswoman said the hospital provided millions of dollars in uncompensated care and used the same billing and outside collection procedures as other Kansas hospitals.