MEDICINE LODGE, Kansas — Sarrah Miller and her husband, Kyle, live in a rambunctious household filled with children in a rural town of about 1,700 people.
Last month a knock on the door interrupted dinner. It was the Barber County sheriff serving Kyle papers.
Their local medical clinic, Medicine Lodge Memorial Hospital, was suing him for $230 of unpaid debt from a nonroutine visit. In all caps and bold letters, the words “court summons” stood out at the top of the page.
“My husband travels. He’s gone most of the week for work. There was just no way that he was going to be able to attend that court date,” Sarrah said. “I just kind of had to jump in, and honestly, they did not make it easy.”
Because Kyle travels for work, he missed the hospital trying to contact him, and Sarrah was unaware. But they are not alone.
Kansas hospitals are increasingly suing patients for small sums of money. District court records show some cases seeking as little as $104. These lawsuits also mean patients may be on the hook for court fees and interest.
Sarrah said that there were a lot of confusing hoops to jump through for that amount of money.
“I understand rural hospitals, they need their money and they’re trying to stay open, and I respect that,” Sarrah said. “But at the same time they definitely go about it kind of more like a bully than like a neighbor.”
The Millers have health insurance. But it’s not always clear how much you should pay out of pocket, even with insurance.
The end result for some families is either coughing up this month’s rent to avoid a court hearing, or having your wages garnished. Sarrah said the family with four kids already struggles with bills.
Exact data on hospital lawsuits is hard to find.
The Kansas District Courts’ public access portal lists past lawsuits. But hospitals are in litigation so often that the system warns users it can’t pull up every case.
But legal nonprofit Kansas Legal Services does have some data on hand.
In a six-year period, Hays Medical Center sued 1,041 county residents. Meanwhile, Southwest Medical Center in Seward County sued 3,012 county residents, in a county with a population of 22,000. The Pratt Regional Medical Center sued 657 local residents in four years.
Newman Regional Health in Emporia sued 2,648 local residents in 2024 alone. One-fourth of those cases were for amounts less than $500.
Cathy Pimple, CEO of Newman Regional Health, said her money-losing hospital can’t afford to stop suing people over even relatively small amounts of unpaid bills. Although she expects a 25% reduction in collections cases going to legal, she said the hospital needs the money to stay in business.
