| Washington State

AG Ferguson: Judge orders Providence debt collector Optimum Outcomes to pay $827,000 penalty for violating patients’ medical debt collection rights

Ruling resolves Ferguson’s case against last remaining defendant in charity care lawsuit against Providence and its debt collectors

SEATTLE — The Attorney General’s Office won a trial against debt collection agency Optimum Outcomes. Optimum is the last remaining defendant in Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s charity care lawsuit against Providence Health & Services, one of the nation’s largest health care systems, and its debt collectors.

Read more about AG Ferguson: Judge orders Providence debt collector Optimum Outcomes to pay $827,000 penalty for violating patients’ medical debt collection rights

More than $55M paid to local governments this month from AG Ferguson opioid cases

Local governments must use the funds to combat the fentanyl and opioid crisis

SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today that city and county governments in Washington state received more than $55 million this month in the latest payments from Ferguson’s litigation against companies that fueled the opioid crisis. The funds must be used to combat the opioid epidemic.

Read more about More than $55M paid to local governments this month from AG Ferguson opioid cases

CONSUMER ALERT: IVF treatment protected under Washington’s robust reproductive health care laws

AG Ferguson assures patients, providers in wake of Alabama Supreme Court decision deeming frozen embryos ‘children’

OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued the following statement today, assuring patients and providers across Washington that the state’s strong protections for reproductive freedom include access to assisted reproduction, including in vitro fertilization (IVF).