Class Action Claims Interpath Lab’s Debt Collection Practices Violate Idaho Law

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Interpath Laboratory, Inc. and healthcare network Praxis Health, P.C. face a proposed class action lawsuit centered on medical debt collection practices that allegedly violate Idaho law.

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The 18-page medical lawsuit was filed by an Idaho resident who alleges Interpath—which provides lab testing services to Praxis facilities throughout Oregon, Washington and Idaho—sent his disputed medical bill to a third-party debt collector without complying with the billing procedure requirements of the Idaho Patient Act (IPACT).

According to the suit, the state law prohibits healthcare providers from authorizing a third party to collect a patient’s debt within 60 days of sending the patient a final notice. The healthcare provider must also furnish the patient a “consolidated summary of services” (CSS) within a specific timeframe, the case adds.

Under the IPACT, the complaint explains, a medical provider may not take “extraordinary collection action”—that is, transferring a patient’s debt to a third party for collection—until 90 days after the patient has received both a final notice and CSS, and after any appeals or disputes have been resolved.

The plaintiff says that in August 2023, during a routine medical appointment at a Praxis clinic, a provider performed a blood draw and sent the sample to Interpath for testing. The filing relays that the man was informed after the appointment that another blood draw would be necessary due to a technical error, and he was assured that he would not be charged for the cost of the second service.

However, the plaintiff claims he received an invoice from Interpath in October 2023 that erroneously listed charges for both blood draws. As the lawsuit tells it, the man disputed the charges with the lab and made several attempts to resolve the issue throughout October and November.

Despite the plaintiff’s efforts, the defendants allegedly “refused to reasonably assist in addressing his claims or take any steps to ensure they were accurately charging him for the services he received.”

Per the case, the plaintiff was notified in December that Interpath, despite knowing of his ongoing dispute, had sent his account to a third-party collection agency.

According to the complaint, Interpath has violated the IPACT by improperly taking an “extraordinary collection action” during a legitimate dispute of the plaintiff’s charges and without sending the man a final notice or CSS in accordance with statutory requirements.

The Interpath debt collection lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Idaho who was subject to the clinical laboratory’s allegedly illegal billing and collection practices during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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