Debt uproar prompts Lovelace apology

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Agitated patients on the receiving end of 36,000 collection notices from Lovelace Health System are getting an apology from the company president who conceded the process could have been handled better.

"Billing for health care is always very complicated, and as we know as individual consumers, sometimes bills get delayed," Lovelace President and CEO Stern told KRQE News 13. "That is the case in many of these."

News 13 has heard from dozens of patients who said notices from a Denver law firm for alleged debts up to seven years old. They said they never received a bill before the collection notice.

However Stern said most patients had received previous bills. If clients dispute the collection notices, he urged them to call Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson , the Denver law firm collecting debt for Lovelace.

State of New Mexico employees are also receiving collection notices. But state Risk Management is telling those employees not to call or pay the Denver law firm but to call their Lovelace account representative instead.

Alex Cuellar, spokesman for the state General Services Department, said the law firm has agreed to suspend the collection process.

When asked why the state employees are being treated differently, Stern said there has been a lot of misinformation over the last several days. He said would prefer patients to call the Denver firm instead.

Stern also said he wants to apologize for any inconvenience the billing issue has caused Lovelace patients. He encouraged anyone who has received a letter regarding an outstanding balance to call the collection agency toll free at 1-877-242-9467.

Anyone else with concerns can address them to him directly at ron.stern@lovelace.com.