New figures show for 2020 show that the HSE paid out more that €568,000 to debt collectors to pursue patients for unpaid hospital bills. The HSE pays out over half a million a year to these kind of services. The Irish Cancer Society have been vocal in their criticism of the practice. 

Jean, a cancer survivor, tells Andrea '“I got about three or four letters from debt collectors before I even knew what type of treatment I was going to have!”

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Image: Irish Medical Times