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.

BIG MONEY PROPELS DEM MEGACHURCH PASTOR TO VICTORY IN LONGSHOT KANSAS SENATE BID 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." 'WHY WOULD HE DO THIS TO US?': ONE CRUCIAL TRUMP DECISION IS HURTING HIS BASE, REPUBLICANS WARN "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.