Paul Kiel | ProPublica

ProPublica’s “Secret IRS Files” series contains examples of billionaire financiers who avoided Medicare tax despite earning huge amounts from their companies.

Scrutiny by Sen. Charles Grassley and an investigation by NPR and ProPublica led a Missouri hospital to give $17 million in debt relief. Will other nonprofit hospitals follow suit?

NPR and ProPublica have been reporting about nonprofit hospitals that seize the wages of lower-income patients. Sen. Chuck Grassley says hospitals doing that could be breaking the law.

In exchange for tax breaks, nonprofit hospitals provide assistance to poor patients. But some hospitals seize wages from poor patients with unpaid bills — even those who qualify for reduced-cost care.

A 1968 federal law allows debt collectors not only to garnish wages but to take from a debtor's bank account. Consumer advocates say the outdated law is overly punitive and out of touch with reality.

One in 10 working Americans between the ages of 35 and 44 is getting his or her pay docked for not paying debts. And in most states, the law allows a quarter of wages to be withheld.