MOSAIC's Medical Debt Grace Period is Good News for Low and Moderate-Income Patients

Gregg Lombard - Executive Director

MOSAIC Life Care (formerly known as Heartland Hospital) has announced a Medical Debt Grace Period for MOSAIC’s low to moderate income patients. MOSAIC will write off up to 100% of the medical debt for qualifying patients who apply between now and the end of the year.

This is a tremendous opportunity for low-income patients. A patient from a family of four with income up to $48,500 may be eligible to have their entire medical debt forgiven by the hospital-- even if the debt is in collection and even if a judgment has been entered against the patient. A patient from a family of three with income up to $60,270 may be eligible to have half their medical debt forgiven.  Please see the announcement below or view it online.  The online version has a chart showing the amount of debt that will be forgiven based on income and family size.

Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa and his staff deserve a great deal of credit for encouraging MOSAIC to provide these discounts. See the website for complete details. The offer only lasts until the end of the year. So, people who are eligible should take action soon.

Below is the announcement from MOSAIC:

Medical Debt Grace Period

Have an unpaid medical bill?

If you or someone you know has an unpaid medical bill, the account may qualify for Mosaic Life Care’s Medical Debt Grace Period — now through December 31, 2015. Even if the account is in collections, has acquired legal fees, is under wage garnishment or has been denied in the past, it may still be eligible.

If the account qualifies, 100 percent of your debt could be forgiven during Mosaic Life Care’s Medical Debt Grace Period.

• If you are approved for 100 percent financial assistance, then we will forgive the entire debt on that account. 
• If you are approved for 50 percent financial assistance, then we will apply a 50 percent discount to the principal on your account, and forgive additional interest and fees that have built up.  
• If you are not approved for financial assistance at this time, but you have paid off the principal amount, we will forgive the remaining Mosaic Life Care balance. 
• If you are not approved for financial assistance at this time and have not paid off the principal amount, we will forgive any interest and/or legal fees that have built up on your account. 

Together we can find answers to unpaid medical bills.

To find out if the account qualifies, make an appointment with a financial counselor by calling (816) 271-7524 or (800) 447-1095, or complete an application (Spanish version) by December 31, 2015.

Isn’t it time that we got rid of boxing?

Gregg Lombardi - Executive Director

Isn’t it time that we got rid of boxing? There are many things to hate about the sport. Boxing is glorified violence. It often causes serious long-term physical damage to the athletes who participate and it encourages violence outside the ring.

At a time when virtually all other sports are doing their best to protect their athletes from concussions, giving your opponent a concussion (which is the result of most knockouts) is actually a goal of boxing and the boxers who have given their opponents the most concussions are lauded as the best. 

There is no doubt the boxers are talented athletes, but to shower large sums of money and glory on people for hurting each other shouldn’t be happening in the 21st century.

The NFL and other leagues have started campaigns to stop domestic violence perpetrated by their players. The NFL’s “No More” campaign urges us to talk about and end domestic violence. Football players who have perpetrated violence are suspended and are at serious risk of losing their careers.

According to CNN, Floyd Mayweather, who won the world welterweight championship on Saturday, has been convicted at least three times on domestic violence related charges and has served two months in jail for domestic violence.  And yet, to my knowledge, the boxing world has completely condoned his conduct. He has never been suspended, fined or even reprimanded for his actions. 

As Saturday’s fight proved, boxing is clearly popular. Millions of people want to see grown men beat the daylights out of each other. That is a sad sign of the mindset of our society. 

Gladiator combat to the death was immensely popular in ancient Rome, but at some point society figured out that it was inhumane and the sport was ended. Given that a couple of millennium has passed, maybe it’s time for the next natural step in the evolution of sport. 

I say that it’s time that we say “No More” to boxing. We don’t allow dogs to fight each other. We don’t allow chickens to fight each other.  We shouldn’t reward people for fighting each other. And, I consider cage fights to be boxing.

The Myths about the Poor and Debt in America

Lisa Livingston-Martin - Staff Attorney, Joplin Office

I have heard many theories as to why the poor have debt, specifically credit card debt, in America. The reasoning often has more to do with the perspective of the person stating their reasoning than the circumstances faced by the poor in America. I have heard well-reasoned and factually sound theories from those experiencing poverty and debt, showing much personal insight into their own situations; such as that the rising cost of living over the last decade has outpaced their low-wage job earnings, including any raises if applicable, causing them to fall further behind in their ability to maintain payments on balances, often incurred years before. In a similar vein, that unexpected medical expenses, and consequential time off work, most often without any opportunity for short or long term disability payments or other benefits to supplement the lost income, resulted in the necessity to prioritize the payment of expenses to those required for food, shelter, transportation to work, medication etc. leaving no funds to pay on credit card balances.

On the other hand, I have heard some in the middle or upper middle class reason that there really aren’t people in America so poor that they can’t pay their debt, including credit cards; that those who default on credit card payments are ‘deadbeats’ who choose to live in poverty, to be pursued by debt collectors and force the debt collectors to pursue them in court out of a sense of apathy or worse. This is an example of the extreme spectrum of theories surrounding credit card debt of the poor in America, which overlooks the fact that many facing credit card debt in America have had their economic situations detrimentally changed due to unforeseen forces and events, including loss of employment, health issues, transition to fixed incomes before they intended. Additionally, the continued high rates of involuntary unemployment and underemployment experienced by younger people has resulted in less upward mobility for those under the age of 35 than in previous generations. The US Chamber of Commerce Foundation details these factors in its The Millennial Generation Research Review report, accessible here.

Unfortunately, there are more insidious reasons that people can find themselves facing credit card debt issues than the societal changes we all are facing these days. One such reason is Identity Theft. Making the situation worse, the culprit is often not a faceless, nameless computer hacker sitting behind a computer monitor on the other side of the globe, or some organized criminal scam, but instead someone very close to the victim. It seems counter-intuitive to think that Identity Theft is an issue for the poor in America, since they generally have little credit or resources to steal. And perhaps this is the worst myth about the poor and debt in America. Crime is often a matter of opportunity, and access. And a sense that no one would want to steal their identity because they have so little is a dangerous assumption.

The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics tracks trends and incidents of Identity Theft. Their National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) defines identity theft as including three general types of incidents:

• unauthorized use or attempted use of an existing account
• unauthorized use or attempted use of personal information to open a new account
• misuse of personal information for a fraudulent purpose

It is clear from Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that Identity theft is on the rise. For instance, they concluded that "3.6 million U.S. households learned they were identity theft victims during a six-month period in 2004." Fast forward just 8 years, and the findings were that “16.6 million people experienced identity theft in 2012.”

I have assisted people who were struggling with poverty while working low-income jobs as well as retirees on limited fixed incomes of Social Security and pension benefits, who learned they were the victims of Identity Theft when they were sued by a debt collector. These can be heartbreaking situations such as:

The elderly, bed-ridden, blind woman who diligently paid her bills, including a credit card bill she had made minimum payments on for years to pay down her debt which had become a burden as her health deteriorated to the point that she required help from care givers to assist in daily needs and paying bills. She would painstakingly sign the checks for her bills so that a care giver could fill in the rest of the check, which she could no longer see, and mail the payments. Unbeknownst to the woman her trusted care giver would at times make the checks payable to themselves, or incur expenses on her credit card for their benefit and not hers. Working with the attorneys for the credit card company I was able to assist her in providing proof that she had been the victim of identity theft and the information amended in her credit report so that it did not have a future negative impact on her credit, or;

The couple, living simply in their home they worked decades to own free and clear, who are shocked to be sued, not once, but three times, claiming that the wife lives in another state 1000 miles away with unpaid credit cards totaling more than $70,000. More devastating was the realization that, the only person with access and opportunity to the wife’s personal information necessary to open the accounts was their daughter who in fact earned more money than her parents. In order to avoid judgments against her totaling more than she could ever repay, mother had to name her daughter as the identity thief, tearfully signing the required documentation; tears of fear that she would not see her young grandchildren again as a consequence.

There are many myths about debt and the poor in America, some born out of stereotypes, ignorance, or mistaken assumptions. Some myths are ugly, but others, including myths held by the poor themselves, that they are not targets of fraud or identity theft are just plain dangerous.

The High Cost of Being Poor

Doug Tschauder - Managing Attorney, St. Joseph Office

I’m going to make an assumption. 

If you are reading this, you are likely in the middle class or higher. You have come to expect certain benefits of, ahem, your position. When you go to buy a new car, you will get the rebate and the finance deal. If your credit card isn’t giving enough cash back or free hotel nights, they won’t keep you for long. Bank fees? What’s that?

Unfortunately, not everyone gets these breaks. If you are poor in America, not only don’t you get the special deals reserved for the haves, you are hit with the poor tax. 

The cost of most everything is higher when a person is struggling. 

Take bank fees. If you don’t keep a $2,000 balance, you get to pay the bank about 8 bucks each month for the privilege of keeping your money. If you bounce a check, the bank gets another $35. If that causes an overdraft, add another $35, plus $2 each day the balance is negative, which will probably be next payday. A couple of hiccups can cost $100 very easily. 

You could go unbanked. In the best case, a cash card or Wal-Mart will only charge a couple bucks each check, If you need money orders, add another buck per. 

If you have a money emergency, like a car or appliance repair, you may be lucky and have a credit card that only charges 25.99% interest, if you aren’t already at your limit. For those who don’t have funds available on the credit card, look out. Payday loans are available, but they charge that 25.99% every couple weeks, not per year. That assumes it gets paid off. A title loan may be a little cheaper, with the added incentive that they will take your car if you miss a payment. 

Transportation is more expensive. That buy here/pay here place will sell you a car for $99 down, but your $300 per month is buying a ‘04 Taurus with 160,000 miles. And, it needs new tires soon. What about the brake issue? Sorry, as is. Of course, you can take the bus. With a bus pass, it is downright reasonable, as long as you don’t mind having to walk several blocks to the bus stop and another couple to your job—in the rain. 

Food gets more expensive. There is often no grocery store nearby, so you have additional transportation costs to get there. If you do go to the local convenience store, everything is higher, and there is practically no produce. Even in the supercenter, produce is more expensive than canned and pre-packaged food, so cheaper wins out. 

If you rent, you are likely paying more for less. Many landlords don’t like to make repairs, especially if you have been late with your rent in the past. Even if you keep a clean place, if the neighbor has bugs, so do you. If you are lucky, there is a coin laundry in the building, otherwise, that can be a trek.

You don’t even think of many other costs. As an hourly worker, you don’t get paid time off to go to the doctor, so you don’t go as often. The insurance you had to buy has a $5000 co-pay, so good luck with that. 

Then there is a psychic cost – the stresses of the situation, the fear of crime around you, the burden of being a single parent. There are social costs as well.

The poverty level for a family of three is $1,674 per month. If you have a full time, minimum wage job, you make just over $1300 per month. Most minimum wage jobs are under 32 hours so the employer can avoid paying for health care. 

 I could keep going, but the reality is this: the poor pay for being poor, and we all pay as well.

Adopt A Neighborhood Project (Law firms make great neighbors!)

Gregg Lombardi - Executive Director

Back in February, the Kansas City Business Journal ran a cover story about the work that the Stinson Leonard Street law firm is doing in the Marlborough Neighborhood.

About five years ago, Stinson adopted the low-income neighborhood in southeastern Kansas City, which is part of the Center School District. By working together, neighborhood leaders, local non-for-profits, the City and Stinson attorneys, with the support of Legal Aid, have achieved many remarkable successes in the neighborhood. Abandoned houses have been repaired and are now high quality housing. There is now a medical clinic in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is the home of a new grocery store (for many years the neighborhood had been a food desert. The only places people living in the neighborhood could buy “groceries” were gas stations and convenience stores).

The project has not only been a success for the community, it’s had great benefits for the firm as well. It has allowed new attorneys excellent training opportunities and created a signature project for the firm’s Kansas City office that everyone can be proud of.

The Bryan Cave firm for years has done a similar project addressing abandoned properties in the Ivanhoe neighborhood. Husch Blackwell has also recently adopted the Mannheim neighborhood.

There are, however, scores of other neighborhoods that need similar help and attorneys have the power to make a tremendous difference in these neighborhoods.  If your firm is interested in finding out how to get involved, please give me a call at (816)474-1413 x5224.

Without a home, your whole life can shatter...

By Jane Worley, Supervising Attorney - Central Office Housing Plus 

Every person we represent on the Housing Plus Team has one thing in common. They are asking for help with one of the basic needs for human beings—shelter.

Sometimes they have a home, but a landlord or a government agency has decided they have broken the rules. Sometimes the rules actually were broken, but it is for circumstances beyond their control, such as an abusive ex-partner who won’t let a locked door keep them from their target. There may be no money for rent or utilities because the car needed to get to work breaks down or your child needs new school items in September. Some of our clients cannot get into subsidized housing to relieve a rent burden of 60 to 80% of their take home income because they have an old eviction or there just isn’t anything available.

Without a home, your whole life can shatter in no time at all.

Here is one example of a client’s problem which we were able to help him resolve:

Jerry has an anxiety disorder which causes him to lash out at when anyone who comes into his apartment. He complained frequently to the manager about maintenance coming into his unit, taking his things or moving or breaking things. He said he never got notice that maintenance was coming. His landlord responded by telling him he was a nuisance and filing for eviction. A Legal Aid Housing Plus attorney asked for a reasonable accommodation of his disability to which the landlord did not respond. Jerry’s Legal Aid attorney then filed a Fair Housing Complaint with HUD, resulting in a Conciliation Agreement allowing him to stay if he provided the landlord with an alternative person with whom to discuss problems relating to maintenance.

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Legal Aid of Western Missouri's housing advocates provide a broad array of legal services, focusing primarily on public housing and Section 8 housing. Our housing counselors regularly provide advice or representation to help our clients avoid wrongful evictions and improper rent calculations. Landlord/tenant disputes and uninhabitable housing conditions are other legal challenges facing our clients. Housing advocates also assist people who are disabled with accessibility issues, and we help other clients with disputes over eligibility for public and subsidized housing.

Mental Health Court Turns Lives Around

Gregg Lombardi - Executive Director

Joe was a homeless gentleman who kept being picked up for trespassing at Crown Center, where he would sleep in a box on a corner in that area. Joe was not medication compliant and had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. He was not engaged with any community-based behavioral health center except to go to Swope Health Services once a week to take a shower.  

A Crisis Intervention Team officer came to court to let the Mental Health Court team know that he felt Joe was decompensating. Outreach at Swope made contact with Joe and after several months of working with him on an intensive level, Joe was admitted to the Mental Health Court program. He graduated and now has stable housing, is medication compliant, has a case manager and has not had police contact since August 2012.

Our staff here at Legal Aid are always looking for the root cause of our clients’ legal problems and for ways we can solve related community problems. One shining example of this work is Mental Health Court in Kansas City.

Many of the defendants in Municipal Court in Kansas City have serious mental health problems that cause them to be homeless and often lead them to violate trespassing and other laws. It used to be that these defendants were in a constant cycle of going in and out of jail, while no one paid any attention to the real cause of the problem. While their mental health problem remained untreated the likelihood of them being able to stay out of jail was remote.

Working with the judges, court administration, prosecutors, mental health providers, the superintendent of the City jail and many others, Legal Aid collaborated to create one of the first Mental Health Court’s in the country. The Court now gives offenders with serious mental health problems the opportunity to go to treatment, rather than going to jail. To graduate from Mental Health Court participants have to stay on their medications, go to regular counseling sessions and not have any new charges filed against them for at least six months. If they graduate, the original charges that brought them into Court are dropped.

The results of the project are fantastic. Today, Mental Health Court has a 56% graduation rate and 89% of the detainees who graduate commit no further violations in the year after their release. Not only does this program improve safety in Kansas City, it also improves the quality of life for the defendants—allowing them to get their mental health issues under control and lead stable lives. Legal Aid has been similarly collaborative for Veterans Treatment Court and Drug Court.