Skip navigation
Prison Legal News
× You have 2 more free articles available this month. Subscribe today.

Kansas County Jails People for Unpaid Medical Bills

Loaded on June 1, 2020 by Douglas Ankney published in Prison Legal News June, 2020, page 43
Filed under: Medical Expenses, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Location: Kansas.

by Douglas Ankney

A county in rural Kansas is jailing people over unpaid medical debt, CBS News reported in February 2020. The county is Coffeyville, Kansas, which has a poverty rate twice the national average.

It’s also the place where attorneys such as Michael Hassenplug have built a successful law practice assisting medical providers to collect debt owed by their neighbors.

Coffeyville has a policy that requires people with unpaid medical bills to appear in court every three months. In what is termed a “medical exam,” the debtors must swear they are too poor to pay. The policy was put in place through Hassenplug’s recommendation to the local judge. “I’m just doing my job,” Hassenplug insisted. “They want the money collected, and I’m trying to do my job as best I can by following the law.”

But the policy also provides for the arrest of anyone who misses two debtor’s exams. Bail is set at $500, which in most jurisdictions is refunded once the bailee appears in court. But in Coffeyville, it goes to attorneys and to the medical companies.

Tres Biggs’ son has leukemia and his wife suffers from Lyme disease. Working two jobs, he missed two exams. “You wouldn’t think you’d go to jail over medical bills,” Biggs said. “I was scared to death. I’m a country kid. I had to strip down, get hosed, and put a jumpsuit on.”

Lizzie Presser from ProPublica reported that the judge in Coffeyville has no law degree, but in the last year had issued more than 30 warrants against medical defendants, with 11 jailed. 

 

Source: cbsnews.com

As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.

Subscribe today

Already a subscriber? Login

More from this issue:

  1. These Sheriffs Release Sick Inmates to Avoid Paying Their Hospital Bills, by Connor Sheets, AL.com, with ProPublica
  2. North Carolina Prisoner Escapes to Flee Coronavirus Death Sentence, by David Reutter
  3. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  4. Company Hawking Prison Phone Monitoring Technology as Way to Discover Coronavirus Infections, by Matthew Clarke
  5. Thinking in a Pandemic: Let the People Go, by Joseph Margulies
  6. BOP Loses Fight Against Orders to Release Ohio Prisoners Threatened By Coronavirus
  7. Staying Alive: A Doctor’s Guide for Prisoners on Staying Safe During COVID-19 Pandemic, by Michael D. Cohen, MD
  8. ‘Prisons Are No Place for a Pandemic:’ Advocates Fight to Free Their Loved Ones, by Victoria Law
  9. Former Missouri Jail Prisoner Ordered to Repay $1.3 Million Settlement for Faking Injuries But Whereabouts Unknown, by Jayson Hawkins
  10. GEO Jail in New York City Sees Rapid Spread of Coronavirus
  11. Coronavirus Kills Michigan Prisoner Days Before His Release After Serving 44 Years, by Chad Marks
  12. Prison Postcards: Official Accounts Differ from Prisoner Accounts as the Pandemic Spreads, by Ken Silverstein
  13. Interview: David Fathi of ACLU’s National Prison Project on Criminal Justice Reform in the Age of Coronavirus, by Ken Silverstein
  14. Coronavirus Pandemic Could Vastly Reduce Prison Voting, by David Reutter
  15. Eleventh Circuit Says COVID-19-Wracked Miami Jail Can’t Be Forced to Give Prisoners Soap, Masks, by David M. Reutter
  16. Ohio Prisoner with Coronavirus Released Without Use of Preventative Measures; Cases Inside Soaring, by Kevin Bliss
  17. Large Scale Releases and Public Safety, by Peter Wagner
  18. Alabama Reopens Ancient Prison to Quarantine COVID-19 Prisoners, by Edward Lyon
  19. COVID-19 Cases Soar at Federal Prisons in California; Half at Lompoc Have the Coronavirus, by Derek Gilna
  20. CoreCivic Detention Center Demanded Detainees Sign Liability Release to Receive Masks, by David Reutter, Kevin Bliss
  21. Federal Court Slams Michigan Jail for Bungling COVID-19 Pandemic, Demands Names of Vulnerable Prisoners for Release, by Christopher Zoukis
  22. Unsealed Documents Expose Treatment Failures at San Diego Jail, by Anthony Accurso
  23. Rhode Island Corrections’ Union President Fined for Excessive Political Donations, by Bill Barton
  24. Prison Officials Limit Prisoner Communications During COVID-19 Crisis, by Derek Gilna
  25. Silence: The Bureau of Prisons’ Pathetic Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, by Christopher Zoukis
  26. Hawaii Institutes Non-Contact Visits at Another Prison to Control Contraband, by Kevin Bliss
  27. New York Judge Orders Release of 18 Rikers Island Detainees Due to COVID-19 Risk, by Christopher Zoukis
  28. Number of California Prisoners Falling; Lifer Population Declines Slightly as Well, by Edward Lyon
  29. Kansas County Jails People for Unpaid Medical Bills, by Douglas Ankney
  30. $200,000 Awarded to Missouri Prison Guard Over Sexual Harassment, Retaliation, by Matthew Clarke
  31. New ACLU Study Says COVID-19 Deaths in Prison Will Soar Without More Releases, Fewer Arrests, by Derek Gilna
  32. Deplorable Conditions at South Carolina Prisons Prompt Call for UN Intervention, by Edward Lyon
  33. Louisiana Governor’s Inaction Prevents Release of Grandmother Hospitalized with COVID-19, by Kevin Bliss
  34. First Prisoners and Staff, Including a Warden, Dead from COVID-19 in Louisiana; Hundreds Infected, by David Reutter
  35. Report: Oaks of Justice Pitch to Help Prisoners Return Home Appears Shady, by Bill Barton
  36. Florida Continues to Use Slave Labor During Coronavirus Outbreak, by Kevin Bliss
  37. Interview: Don Specter of the Prison Law Office on California Prisons, COVID-19 and Governor Newsom, by Ken Silverstein
  38. Report: Tennessee Prison Population Climbs, Bucks Nationwide Trend, by David Reutter
  39. Audit: Massachusetts Department of Corrections Failed to Provide Timely Health Care or Reentry Services, by Douglas Ankney
  40. Mississippi Jail to Stay Open Despite Massive “Financial Trouble”, by Chad Marks
  41. Sandoval County, New Mexico Settles Public Records Lawsuit with Human Rights Defense Center, by Derek Gilna
  42. Nebraska Prison Employee Labor Agreement Contains Unusual Provision, by Matthew Clarke
  43. New York Federal Guard Sentenced to 25 Years for Sexually Abusing Prisoners, by David Reutter
  44. Coronavirus Crisis: Wisconsin Releases Around 1,600 Prisoners, an ‘Inconsequential’ Number
  45. California Prison Reform Results in Housing Challenges for Former Prisoners, by Anthony Accurso
  46. Sign the Papers! Alabama Prisoners Get Masks for COVID-19 but With Strings Attached, by Edward Lyon
  47. HRDC Settles California Jail Censorship Suit for $143,500, Consent Decree, by Derek Gilna
  48. Innocence Project Working to Prove Arkansas Executed Innocent Man, by Edward Lyon
  49. More Than 200 Convicted of Corruption at Baltimore Department of Corrections; More Charges Announced, by Kevin Bliss
  50. $500,000 Settlement for Colorado Prisoner Beaten During Seizure, by David Reutter
  51. Tenth Circuit Reinstates Colorado Prisoner’s Claim that Requires BOP to Release Him from Imprisonment for Marijuana Possession, by Matthew Clarke
  52. $500,000 Settlement From Psychiatrist for Failing to Treat New Mexico Prisoner Who Committed Suicide, by Matthew Clarke
  53. Florida Prison Officials Ordered to Not Retaliate Against Prisoner, by David Reutter
  54. $2,800 Verdict As Jury Finds Pennsylvania Jail Discriminated Against Women Prisoners in Reentry Center, by David Reutter
  55. Nevada Supreme Court Holds Firefighting Prisoner Cannot Challenge Worker’s Compensation Based on Prison Pay, by Matthew Clarke
  56. Tornado Rips Through South Carolina, Displacing Federal Prisoners, by Matthew Clarke
  57. Gallup Poll Shows Growing Opposition to Death Penalty, by Douglas Ankney
  58. Federal Judge Keeps Heat on Florida to Implement Amendment 4 Voter Restoration for Ex-Felons, by David Reutter
  59. News in Brief

More from Douglas Ankney:

More from these topics: