Employees allege this bankrupt Kentucky hospital cheated them out of health insurance
Hundreds of current and former employees of a bankrupt Eastern Kentucky hospital claim hospital officials routinely deducted money from their paychecks in 2017 and 2018 for health care coverage they never received.
In a federal class action complaint filed against Pineville Community Hospital Association, Inc. and Americore Health, LLC on June 20, three named plaintiffs — Amy Jackson-Bolinger of Pineville, Pamela Johnson of Middlesboro, and Melissa North of Harrogate — allege the Bell County hospital improperly withheld money from their paychecks for at least a year under the guise of health insurance plan payments.
As a result, the employees “lost their health care coverage, [costing them] millions of dollars in health care bills,” according to the lawsuit. They’re seeking to recover those damages.
Ronald E. Johnson, Jr., a northern Kentucky attorney representing the plaintiffs, said his clients began noticing a problem in early 2017, when they began receiving medical bills that should have been covered by their health plans. One of the plaintiffs was hospitalized in Tennessee for a severe case of the flu, Johnson said, and despite providing her insurance card to the hospital, months later she received bills for nearly $400,000.
Read more: https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article231982157.html