We took a major step forward in the ongoing federal class action litigation against University of Kentucky (UK) Healthcare and the Kentucky Department of Revenue (DOR) over their unconstitutional medical debt collection practices, filing a motion for summary judgment.
“I told the Department of Revenue how my bill was coded wrong. They didn’t care. They took a whole two weeks’ paycheck, seized my wages, and told me the only thing that I could do was make a payment plan," said Lucy Alexander, mother of two and a plaintiff in the case.
In 2020, patients sued UK Healthcare and the DOR for violating their due process rights by failing to give patients adequate notice or an opportunity to contest their debt before taking their property, as required by the 14th Amendment. The DOR has garnished wages, withheld tax refunds, and swept bank accounts to collect on medical debts that many patients should not even owe, all without a court order.
To make matters worse, DOR adds a twenty-five percent collection fee, which some class members will spend the rest of their lives trying to repay.
“Medical debt is a national problem that ruins lives and drives people into bankruptcy. You often can’t choose whether or not to have a life-saving procedure and low-income individuals are the ones who are hit the hardest. Twenty-seven percent of all Kentuckians report having medical debt,” said Karina Tefft, Staff Attorney at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice.
CELEBRATING WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
As we transition from Black History Month to Women's History Month, we know that celebrating the legacy of changemakers is a year-long commitment. Today, we call attention to Constance Baker Motley, whose accomplishments are many:
First Black woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court.
Lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Led the litigation that integrated the Universities of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi among others—defying Southern governors who tried to close the door to Black students.
First Black woman in the New York State Senate.
First woman elected as Manhattan Borough President.
Appointed judge to the Southern District of New York.
"I became particularly aware of Constance Baker Motley’s contributions to civil rights in particular and law in general when I worked at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, at a time when Black lawyers were extremely rare and Black women lawyers rarer still," said Dennis Parker.
We also take time to recognize the historic nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first public defender to be considered for the Supreme Court, a brilliant choice who would add to the professional diversity on the court.
Professional diversity matters. "Of the current sitting Supreme Court justices, none spent a substantial part of their pre-judicial career working as a legal aid attorney or for a nonprofit civil rights organization. . . . Taken as a whole, the current Court has had little professional exposure to the shortcomings in our legal system when it comes to advancing and protecting the rights of marginalized people and communities.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Data confirms what our legal team and activists always knew about the racial targeting at traffic stops: Black residents in Buffalo are at least two times more likely to be stopped than white residents. Watch this exclusive NEWS 4 interview with NCLEJ attorneys Claudia Wilner and Anjana Malhotra.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice advances racial and economic justice through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. We have provided legal representation and support since 1965.
