GOP senator alleges Schumer behind 'hit job' report on former patients

A Republican senator running in a tightening race in ruby-red Kansas argued that an explosive report detailing allegations of hundreds of lawsuits against his former patients was a political "hit job" planted by top Democrats.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital that a report from The New York Times that detailed hundreds of lawsuits against patients of his former OB-GYN practice over missed medical bills, some of which ended in arrests, was a political attack planted by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

"I think that Kansans look at a story like this and realize it's from something like the National Enquirer, that this is totally a hit job by left media, an article paid for by Chuck Schumer," Marshall said during an interview at the Republican National Committee midterm convention in Dallas.

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Marshall was one of the founding partners of the Great Bend Regional Hospital and had his own OB-GYN practice called the Heartland Regional OB-GYN before winning his first bid for Congress in 2016.

During that time, and even after he was in office, the report alleged that Marshall and his lawyers filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients with outstanding medical bills and charged patients an 18% annual interest rate.

Of those, 81 patients were arrested for missing court dates, The New York Times reported, and the outlet interviewed some of those who were arrested.

"I would never want anyone to be arrested because of money that they owe myself or the hospital," Marshall said. "But we had standard policies. Once they went to collections, I was never asked another — had nothing else to do with the process. These were professional companies that did the collection processes."

Marshall noted that as one of the few doctors who accepted Medicaid in the area, many of his patients would travel from other cities to see him.

He said that typically it would be nine months to a year before a collection agency was considered, and when that became an option, they would turn to the "same collection agency that most every other doctor and hospital in the region did as well. They were all standard practices."

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"My golden rule with my office manager is, look, if a person's making a payment of $5 a month, that's fine," Marshall said. "As long as you're communicating, make an effort, if they miss one, just communicate with us."

"So only a very small, small, small fraction of the unpaid bills even went to collections," he continued. "But once it left our office’s hand, we had nothing to do with any further decisions."

The report comes as Marshall is running for a second term in the Senate. He’s facing Adam Hamilton, the Democratic nominee and a megachurch pastor who led the largest United Methodist congregation in the country.

Tyson Brody, a spokesperson for Hamilton’s campaign, told Fox News Digital, "Roger Marshall's own lawyer said Roger Marshall specifically requested an 18% interest rate, 50% higher than the statutory rate in Kansas."

"Roger Marshall's own lawyer said Roger Marshall allowed him to seek warrants, arrests, and garnishments of new and expecting mothers," Brody said. "One woman said she requested a payment plan but was pressed to pay in full and another reported she was arrested while struggling with payments."

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"Senator Marshall should explain why he sued a woman who claimed he was charging her for his own mistakes, and why he had patients jailed for as little as $115," he continued.

Though Kansas is favored to stay in the GOP's control, Vice President JD Vance, one of the Trump administration's most valuable surrogates on the campaign trail this cycle, stumped for Marshall last week. While Vance lauded Marshall as a valued ally to President Donald Trump and instrumental in implementing his agenda, he was interrupted by a protester who referred to The New York Times' report.

"Now, this guy, this guy, I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, here's what happened is he decided to come in and lie about my very dear friend Doc Marshall, because the reality is that Doc Marshall has stood up for everyday Americans every single day he's been in the United States Senate," Vance said.

But back in Dallas before the Vance event, Marshall maintained that his office’s practices were above board, and questioned The New York Times’ characterization of what happened.

"Look, I'm not even gonna give The New York Times the honor of me reading their article. But I just think that I trust our judges a lot more than what they're describing there," Marshall said. "Our judges wouldn't do what they're describing in that article. There had to be something else going on."

"So it's just amazing to me. Here, I'm the only OB-GYN in the middle of 60,000 people on call every night," he continued. "I didn't get a night off for 30 years darn near. And take so many people we gave pre-care to and there's so many bills that we just wrote off as well. So I just think this is very much a mischaracterization of the whole process."