Patients Paid in Minn. Hospital Billing Settlement

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is distributing money to patients who claimed they were subject to aggressive collection tactics at Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services.

Ben Wogsland with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office confirms Swanson has distributed $364,000 to 90 people.

The money comes from a July agreement in which Fairview vendor Accretive Health paid $2.49 million to settle allegations that the company broke Minnesota debt collection and consumer protection laws.

Individual awards vary from $1,000 to $7,000. The remaining $2.1 million will go into Minnesota's general fund.

Swanson alleged that Chicago-based Accretive Health instituted overly aggressive collection tactics at Fairview. The company admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
 

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