--- title: $92,350 Medical Debt in Louisiana Bankruptcy | North Oaks Case description: A Louisiana bankruptcy case shows $92,350 owed to North Oaks Health System, a 340B hospital— from a household with 22 cents left at the end of each month. image: https://www.patientsrising.org/hubfs/Medical%20Bankruptcy%20%20Louisiana.png --- [![Patients Rising](https://www.patientsrising.org/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/PatientsRising-u4m/templates/images/patients_rising_logo.png?width=120&height=900&name=patients_rising_logo.png "Patients Rising")](https://www.patientsrising.org/) - Policy Center - - [Policy Framework ](https://www.patientsrising.org/policy) - [Affordability ](https://www.patientsrising.org/policy/affordability) - [Accountability ](https://www.patientsrising.org/policy/accountability) - [Innovation ](https://www.patientsrising.org/policy/innovation) - [Federal Healthcare Policy ](https://www.patientsrising.org/policy/federal) - [Learning Center ](https://www.patientlearningcenter.org/) - - [LEAD Education ](https://www.patientlearningcenter.org/lead) - [Our Community ](https://www.patientsrising.org/our-community) - [Patient Senate ](https://www.patientsrising.org/patient-senate) - Insights - - [All Posts ](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates) - [PR Magazine ](https://www.patientsrising.org/pr-magazine) - [Patient Stories ](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/patient-stories) - [Medical Bankruptcy in America ](https://www.patientsrising.org/medical-bankruptcy-america) - [State of the Patient Podcast ](https://www.patientsrising.org/state-of-the-patient-podcast) - Get Involved - - [Share Your Story ](https://www.patientsrising.org/storyshare) - [Become an Advocate ](https://www.patientsrising.org/become-an-advocate) - [Join the Patient Senate ](https://www.patientsrising.org/patient-senate) - [Join Our Community ](https://www.patientsrising.org/community) - [Events ](https://www.patientsrising.org/events) - - [State of the Patient Summit & Rise Awards ](https://www.patientsrising.org/events/summit-and-rise-awards) - [Advocacy Fly-ins ](https://www.patientsrising.org/patients-rising-fly-in) - [Virtual Lunch n' Learns ](https://www.patientsrising.org/events) - Virtual Town Halls - About Us - - [Our Mission ](https://www.patientsrising.org/about-patients-rising) - [Our Principles ](https://www.patientsrising.org/patients-rising-principles) - [Our Team ](https://www.patientsrising.org/team) - [Our Board of Directors ](https://www.patientsrising.org/board) - [Our Advisory Councils ](https://www.patientsrising.org/advisory-council) - [Partners and Coalitions ](https://www.patientsrising.org/partners) - Corporate Partnerships - [Funding & Financial Reports ](https://www.patientsrising.org/financial-transparency) [Donate ](https://patientsrising.org/?form=support-patientsrising) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. [340B](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/340b) [Bankruptcy](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/bankruptcy) [Louisiana](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/louisiana) [Affordability](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/affordability) Jul 12, 2026 $92,350 Medical Debt in Louisiana Bankruptcy | North Oaks Case ![https://6015202.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/6015202/Favicon.webp](https://www.patientsrising.org/hubfs/Favicon.webp) Written by [Patients Rising Staff](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/author/patients-rising-staff) SHARE Link copied! *This article is part of [Medical Bankruptcy in America](https://www.patientsrising.org/medical-bankruptcy-america), a Patients Rising series examining how medical debt appears in federal bankruptcy filings across the United States. The cases referenced come from publicly filed court records. To protect personal privacy, we focus on the financial details and creditor listings rather than identifying the individuals involved.* --- ## Case Snapshot - **Location:** Hammond, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana — Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District - **Chapter:** 7 (liquidation) - **Total liabilities:** $275,006 - **Medical debt:** $92,380 — 42.4% of unsecured debt - **Largest creditor:** North Oaks Health System — **$92,350** - **Monthly income:** $2,991.59 - **Monthly expenses:** $2,991.37 - **Monthly margin:** **$0.22** ## Twenty-two cents Some numbers in this series are large enough to be abstract. A $386,758 hospital balance is difficult to picture. This one is not. A household in Hammond, Louisiana filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Their Schedule I reports monthly income of $2,991.59. Their Schedule J reports monthly expenses of $2,991.37. The difference — everything the household has left, in a month, after it has paid for everything it needs — is **twenty-two cents.** Against that margin sits a single hospital balance of **$92,350**, owed to North Oaks Health System. ## On North Oaks North Oaks Health System is the dominant hospital system in Tangipahoa Parish, anchored by North Oaks Medical Center in Hammond. It is a nonprofit, and it is a 340B disproportionate-share hospital — meaning it qualifies for the federal drug-discount program precisely because it serves a disproportionate share of low-income patients. For a household in Hammond, North Oaks is not one option among several. It is the hospital. The household's schedule also carries $21,787 in priority tax debt and a mortgage. Medical debt accounts for 42 percent of the unsecured total, and North Oaks accounts for essentially all of it — a single balance of $92,350, with a $30 clinic charge attached. ## The arithmetic of twenty-two cents At $0.22 a month, retiring a $92,350 hospital balance would take approximately **35,000 years.** That figure is absurd, and it is meant to be. The point is not that the repayment would be slow. The point is that there is no repayment. There was never going to be one. The household's income covered its expenses to within a quarter, and a six-figure hospital balance sat outside that arithmetic entirely, from the first day it existed. What follows is predictable. The balance goes unpaid. It goes to collections. It appears on a bankruptcy schedule. And at discharge, the hospital writes it off. ## The write-off Here is the part that deserves attention. North Oaks was always going to write this debt off. A household with twenty-two cents of monthly margin was never going to pay $92,350, and every actor in this process — the hospital, its collections vendor, the court — could see that from the schedules. So the collection effort produced no money for the hospital. It produced a bankruptcy for the patient. And under the reporting conventions that govern nonprofit hospitals, **a bad-debt write-off at the close of a bankruptcy can be counted toward the hospital's reported community benefit** — the very figure hospitals cite to justify their tax exemption and their 340B participation. The debt is documented here. What is not documented anywhere — because no federal rule requires it — is whether this patient was ever told that North Oaks is a 340B hospital, whether they were offered its charity-care policy, or whether that policy would have covered them. ## Why these cases matter Across 130 Louisiana filings, 44 carried verified 340B-hospital debt, totaling **$953,851**. Two systems — CHRISTUS and Ochsner — account for 84 percent of it. Three terms that determine everything about how this program works remain undefined in federal law: **a 340B patient**, **charity care**, and **community benefit**. HRSA's attempt to define the first was struck down as unenforceable in 2023. Until those terms mean something, a household with twenty-two cents a month has no way of knowing whether the hospital billing them was supposed to help. --- *If you have experienced medical debt, collections, or bankruptcy connected to healthcare costs, we want to hear from you. ****Share your story**** and help bring transparency and accountability to the healthcare system.* Tags: [340B](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/340b) [Bankruptcy](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/bankruptcy) [Louisiana](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/louisiana) [Affordability](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/affordability) ## Related Posts [View All News ](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates) [Federal Policy](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/federal-policy) Jul 20, 2026 [We Read 903 Bankruptcy Filings Across Six States. "Safety-Net" 340B Hospitals Were the Creditors.](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/340b-hospitals-as-creditors-in-medical-bankruptcies) [Read More ](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/340b-hospitals-as-creditors-in-medical-bankruptcies) [Access to Care](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/access-to-care) Jul 18, 2026 [Pharmacists Fight Back Act: Where Patients Rising Stands](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/pharmacists-fight-back-act-position) [Read More ](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/pharmacists-fight-back-act-position) [340B](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/tag/340b) Jul 13, 2026 [$180,000 Medical Debt in Wisconsin Bankruptcy | Froedtert Case](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/180000-medical-debt-in-wisconsin-bankruptcy-froedtert-case) [Read More ](https://www.patientsrising.org/advocacy-updates/180000-medical-debt-in-wisconsin-bankruptcy-froedtert-case) ## Get Updates In Your Inbox Sign up for updates about our patient education, support and advocacy programs and initiatives. 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