A former patient of U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a former OBGYN, is suing him for allegedly overcharging her interest on an overdue medical bill, which she says violated Kansas law.
Meischa Zimmerman filed a class-action lawsuit against the Kansas Republican on Thursday, accusing the senator of forcing patients to pay over 18% in interest rates, a sum they claim violated state law.
The lawsuit, which was also filed “on behalf of” Marshall’s other patients, argues that many of his patients were economically disadvantaged pregnant women and mothers who lived in a rural area with above-average poverty levels.
“Many of Marshall’s patients did not have health insurance or had insurance with high deductibles and co-pays that did not pay all the amounts Marshall charged them,” the lawsuit says. “Many were reported as having to decide between paying medical bills or buying groceries.”
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The lawsuit dropped just days before the midterm elections, which have become a referendum on the economy in which “affordability” is a major buzzword. Kansas is one of several states where the political landscape has shifted toward Democrats, making the traditional GOP stronghold a battleground state that could decide which party takes control of the Senate.
The New York Times reported last month that Marshall’s practice sued 700 former patients, including new and expectant mothers, to collect on unpaid bills. The damages sought ranged from $101 to thousands of dollars.
This “aggressive” approach continued even as Marshall became a congressman, the lawsuit says, claiming that Marshall’s decision to charge patients 18% interest was “unmitigated greed and blatantly unlawful.”
Kansas prohibits charging more than 15% interest, according to the suit. And when Marshall’s practice was unable to collect, his attorneys requested arrest warrants that led to the arrest of 81 patients.
Zimmerman, the plaintiff in the suit, was arrested three times over $3,596 in unpaid medical bills for the birth of her child in 2009.
In December of that year, Marshall’s practice filed a petition against her in the district court of Barton County to collect the amount plus 18% interest and court costs.
“It could be fully expected that doctors in Kansas would be law-abiding and would not charge their patients unlawful, usurious interest rates,” the lawsuit says. “Only Marshall defied that expectation.”
The lawsuit further accuses Marshall of violating his fiduciary duty by benefiting himself to the detriment of his patients and fraudulently concealing that he charged patients more in interest than he should have under Kansas law.
While the complaint does not request a specific dollar amount, Zimmerman is seeking damages and/or restitution in an amount to be determined at trial, pre- and post-judgment interest, and other types of relief the court considers just and proper.
The Washington Sun has emailed Marshall for comment.
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