Advocate Aurora Health, one of the Chicago area’s largest health care providers, and debt collector LJ Ross Associates, have been accused in a new class action lawsuit of using improper tactics to collect unpaid medical bills from Advocate patients, even after the medical debt had been charged off.
On May 23, attorney Michael Drew, of Neighborhood Legal LLC, of Chicago, filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, against Advocate and LJ Ross.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiff Ashley Vela. However, the complaint seeks to expand the action to include potentially many other current and former Advocate patients who may have similar claims to those leveled by Vela.
According to the complaint, at some point, Vela incurred medical debt, collectable by Downers Grove-based Advocate Aurora.
The healthcare system operates 26 hospitals, and more than 500 total health care facilities in Illinois Wisconsin. Advocate Aurora employs more than 75,000 workers, including 10,000 doctors.
The complaint does not state where Vela received health care, nor the amount of unpaid medical bills she may have owed.
However, Vela’s account went into default, and Advocate Aurora charged off the debt, ultimately assigning it to LJ Ross, of Jackson, Michigan, for collection.
According to the complaint, LJ Ross then attempted to collect the debt, by contacting Vela directly, even though the debt collector allegedly knew Vela was represented by a lawyer.
Further, the complaint asserts Advocate Aurora allowed LJ Ross to attempt to collect the debt, even after Advocate allegedly sent Vela a letter stating Advocate “has cancelled the entirety of the debt.”
The complaint asserts the actions of Advocate and LJ Ross, together, violated federal law governing fair debt collection practices, and violated the Illinois consumer fraud law.
The plaintiffs claim Advocate’s and LJ Ross’ “normal business practices are designed to disregard the law through an agreement to subvert state and federal consumer protection laws, ignore the legal rights of indebted Illinois residents, and profit from wrongful collection actions that allow them to collect debts faster and more profitably,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit asserts many others likely have stories and claims similar to Vela’s. They asked the court to allow them to turn their case into a class action. The plaintiffs don’t estimate how many others may be added to the action as additional plaintiffs.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs have asked the court to award them damages, including statutory damages under federal law, and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, allowed under the Illinois consumer fraud statute, plus attorney fees.