In response to the newspaper's report, state regulators in January proposed to replace the 12 percent interest rate with an adjustable rate of prime plus 3 percentage points. In December, that would have totaled 6.25 percent, but as recently as June 2006, it would have been 11.25 percent.
Regulators scrapped that plan in a Feb. 13 report to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who in December ordered an "immediate and thorough review" of hospital debt- collection practices.
The cost review commission's report called on the legislature to prohibit hospitals and debt-collection agencies from charging prejudgment interest. It also recommended that state regulators develop standards for collection policies and practices.
