New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM)’s “Chase Health Advance” and Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C)’s “Citi Health” as part of his ongoing investigation of health care credit cards, which has previously taken aim at “CareCredit” a division of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)’s GE Capital Service.
Last Week, Cuomo announced an investigation into what he referred to has “predatory health care lending” where consumers were allegedly misled about terms for health-care credit cards.
“Our ongoing investigation has uncovered conflicts of interest and predatory practices in the health care industry that are hurting New Yorkers and patients across the country,” Cuomo said today in a statement. “Patients are being misled into paying for services they never received by the people they should be able to trust the most — their doctors.”
Cuomo said that he has issued subpoenas to 14 different health care and dental clinics in New York. The subpoenas asked for marketing materials, applications, terms of credit, and contracts. He alleged that some providers are rewarded with “kickbacks” in the form of rebates for pushing CareCredit’s health care credit cards to consumers.
Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) spokesman Samuel Wang said in emailed statements to the press that Citi will cooperate with Cuomo’s investigation. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) has thus far declined to comment on the subpoenas. General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Spokesperson Stephen White said last week that the company would work with Cuomo’s office.
