Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall accused Chuck Schumer of funding a political attack over former patients, while his Democratic opponent pressed claims about lawsuits and arrests.
Marshall rejected a New York Times report alleging that he and his lawyers sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills from his former Kansas medical practice. The report said 81 patients were arrested after missing court dates.
The dispute now sits in the middle of Marshall’s campaign for a second Senate term. Marshall blamed partisan media and Democrats, while Adam Hamilton’s campaign accused him of approving aggressive collection methods. Neither side’s account resolves the unanswered questions about the underlying court records.
Marshall made his case during an interview at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas. He told Fox News Digital that Kansas voters would see the Times report as a partisan attack.
“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,”
Fox did not independently establish Marshall’s allegation about Schumer. The Senate minority leader’s political representatives were among those identified in connection with the dispute, but no funding records were presented.
Marshall, a former OB-GYN, said his office followed standard billing policies. Accounts generally did not go to a collection agency until nine months to a year had passed, he said.
He also said patients could avoid that step by communicating with the office and making even a small payment. His standing direction to his office manager, Marshall said, allowed payments of $5 a month when a patient made an effort.
“So only a very small, small, small fraction of the unpaid bills even went to collections,” Marshall said. “But once it left our office’s hand, we had nothing to do with any further decisions.”
That separation is central to his defense. Marshall said professional collection companies took control after his office transferred an account, and he denied wanting anyone arrested over money owed to him or the hospital.
He also described the collection agency as the same kind used by other doctors and hospitals in the region. “They were all standard practices,” Marshall said.
The Times allegations, as described by Fox, went further. They involved lawsuits against more than 700 patients during Marshall’s years in medicine and after he entered public office. The report also cited an annual interest rate of 18% on outstanding bills.
Hamilton, the Democratic Senate nominee and a senior pastor, is challenging Marshall in Kansas. His campaign disputes the senator’s claim that he had no role once unpaid accounts entered collections.
Campaign spokesman Tyson Brody said Marshall’s own lawyer claimed the senator specifically requested the 18% interest rate. Brody called that rate 50% higher than Kansas’ statutory rate, though the specific statute was not identified.
Brody also alleged that Marshall allowed his lawyer to seek warrants, arrests and wage garnishments involving new and expecting mothers. Those remain campaign claims; the underlying legal records were not reproduced in Fox’s account.
“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,” Brody said. He also accused Marshall of having patients jailed over debts as low as $115.
The distinction matters. The Times report said the 81 arrests followed missed court dates, rather than stating that authorities arrested patients solely because they owed medical bills. The precise legal process and individual cases remain unclear.
Vice President JD Vance defended Marshall while campaigning for him after a protester raised the Times report. Vance accused Marshall’s critic of lying and described the senator as a friend who had stood up for everyday Americans.
Marshall is an ally of President Donald Trump and first won election to Congress in 2016. Before politics, he practiced obstetrics and gynecology and helped found Great Bend Regional Hospital.
He said he served an area of 60,000 people and was on call nearly every night for almost 30 years. Marshall also said his practice provided care before payment and wrote off many bills.
But Marshall acknowledged that he had not read the Times report. He said he trusted Kansas judges more than the newspaper’s description and believed “there had to be something else going on.”
That leaves the public with two sharply different accounts. Marshall says standard collection procedures were turned into a campaign attack. Hamilton’s team says Marshall personally approved terms and tactics that caused serious harm.
The court records would offer the cleanest answer, but they were not included in Fox’s account. Until they are placed before voters, the accusations should remain accusations rather than settled fact.
Political timing does not erase legitimate questions, but partisan claims do not become proof simply because a major newspaper prints them.
