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A phone call telling Stephanie Beesing she was being cut off from her doctors and clinic was the last thing she wanted in month eight of a high-risk pregnancy.

Yet that happened last month, triggering a frantic effort to maintain access to her care through Glencoe Regional Health in Glencoe, Minn. The organization was taking the action because Beesing was far behind in paying $4,100 in medical bills.

"I love my doctors and nurses I work with," she said, "which is why this is frustrating."

Beesing's fight shows that the denial of care to patients with unpaid debts is a practice that goes beyond one health care system in Minnesota.

Allina Health's cutoff policy gained national attention in the New York Times earlier this month, prompting the Minneapolis-based health system to suspend it. Other providers have used it to confront increasing financial challenges. Glencoe is an independent provider in central Minnesota.

Beesing persuaded Glencoe to delay the loss of medical access until after her scheduled baby delivery on Thursday and at least two postnatal visits. After that, Glencoe will remain a resource for emergency care but not for clinical care for Beesing or her husband or newborn, she said.

"If I haven't paid the debt in full or set up an automatic withdrawal for $100 per month, then they are dismissing me from the clinic," she said. "I don't want to shirk the debt or anything. I'm willing to pay. I can't do $100 a month right now. I could do $20 to $30 a month."

Cutting off clinical access is a last resort used intermittently in Minnesota by providers such as Allina and HealthPartners. Kaiser Health News reviewed 500 U.S. health systems in 2022 and found 90, including Mayo Clinic in Rochester, that also used the practice.

Management of bad debt has always been a challenge, with Minnesota hospital providers writing off $473 million in 2020 when patients couldn't pay what they owed. The pressure to minimize that amount has increased, though, with hospitals reporting leaner finances following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even before that event, 29 of 128 Minnesota hospitals were considered financially distressed, meaning they had lost money on operations in four recent years. Glencoe lost money on the operation of its hospital, clinics and other facilities in 2017, but has seen positive and improving margins every year through 2021, according to state data.

While Glencoe had written off debts that Beesing had accrued before her bankruptcy filing, it was unwilling to waive a new stack of bills resulting from her pregnancy and other medical needs. The health system said in a written statement that it encourages patients to seek financial assistance and reaches out frequently to discuss payment options before taking drastic measures.

"It is always our goal to avoid dismissal," the statement said. "We are an independent healthcare system here to serve our community — our patients are our friends and neighbors."

Beesing and her husband landed in bankruptcy two years ago through the combination of unexpected joblessness and costly chronic health problems. The couple had moved from Wisconsin and bought a house in Glencoe on the promise of a job that disappeared at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We ended up having to use credit cards and things like that," Beesing said. "It got out of hand and we couldn't keep up with it anymore."

It is a common refrain; one 2019 study estimated that medical debts factor into two-thirds of U.S. personal bankruptcies. Beesing's attorney, Margaret Henehan, said she has filed bankruptcy for an increasing number of clients to prevent them from losing access to their doctors.

"We know what to do with bankruptcy," she said. "So that ends the fight."

While bankruptcy protection set up a payment plan to help Beesing resolve old debts, it couldn't shield her from new bills when she became pregnant and required additional prenatal monitoring because of her diabetes.

Beesing, 35, works at a local library and her husband is in management training at a restaurant. They had a high-deductible health plan through the state's MNsure program, and qualified for a modest discount on premiums, but were still left with copays and out-of-pocket expenses that they couldn't afford.

The family is facing new pressures. Beesing wants to keep working to pay down the family's old and new debts, but child-care costs could exceed her salary. She is looking out of town for doctors, perhaps 20 miles away in Hutchinson or Waconia, but some aren't taking new patients or scheduling appointments anytime soon.

Beesing said many Glencoe officials have been sympathetic, and her doctor helped delay her loss of clinical access. She is hopeful of at least working out discounts to her debts. Meantime, the overdue notices keep coming.

"I actually just got another one today," she said.

She was told while eight months pregnant she would be cut off from clinic care due to $4,100 in medical debt, the Star Tribune reported.

GLENCOE, MN — A pregnant Glencoe woman will not be cut off from receiving medical care after people who read of her plight donated to help pay her debts and allow her to keep her doctors, she said.

“I don't even know where to begin to say thank you,” Stephanie Beesing wrote in a GoFundMe. “I am overwhelmed and in awe of people's generosity.”

Beesing was told while eight months pregnant that she would be cut off from clinic care due to $4,100 in medical debt owed to Glencoe Regional Health, according to the Star Tribune. Beesing was able to ensure care during the birth of her child and two additional visits, but would then only have access to the provider’s emergency services, the Tribune reported.

“ER and Urgent Care only access is not helpful when you have a chronic or ongoing illness that you need specialists for,” she wrote. “I don't want this to happen again, to myself, and definitely not to anyone else.”

Beesing and her husband were in bankruptcy two years ago after suffering pandemic-related job loss and chronic health issues, according to the Tribune, which reported their state insurance had a high deductible and they struggled with copays and out-of-pocket costs.

Find out what's happening in Across Minnesotawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Glencoe Regional Health told the Tribune that patients are encouraged to pursue financial help and consider payment options and that it tries to avoid cutting off care.

Tribune readers donated money for Beesing’s bills, according to Beesing, who was scheduled to be induced Thursday due to diabetes and a high-risk pregnancy. She is also debating whether to return to work at a local library after her unpaid three-month leave, as childcare could cost more than her salary, the Tribune reported.

“I want to encourage people to contact the State Attorney General and the clinics who have these policies: they need to change,” she wrote. “Especially when we are hard-working people and have medical insurance but the costs of specialists or continued care for chronic issues just keeps piling up before anyone can even get a chance to get ahead.”

Allina Health recently fell under scrutiny when a similar policy was reported by The New York Times, but the provider has since paused the practice.

Minnesotans have responded to the plight of a pregnant woman in Glencoe, Minn., who was about to lose access to her doctors over her medical debts.

Stephanie Beesing received an outpouring of support following a Star Tribune story about her situation on Monday, and her attorney said she received multiple checks, including one for $6,000, that could pay off those debts.

"All I could do was cry," Beesing said. "I am overwhelmed and in awe of people's generosity."

Glencoe Regional Health Services had notified Beesing and her husband that they would lose access to non-emergency medical services from the provider unless they made progress in paying $4,100 in overdue bills.

The cutoff was postponed until after Beesing's scheduled baby delivery on Thursday and a couple of postnatal visits. Now the charitable support could prevent that loss altogether.

Glencoe Regional Health is an independent provider in central Minnesota, and is among the health systems in the state that will suspend access to non-emergency care as a last resort when patients have substantial unpaid bills.

A spokeswoman said the health system is prevented by medical privacy laws from even acknowledging that a patient is in its care.

"We want to be as supportive to this individual as possible," said Lynn Beranek, director of community outreach and marketing for Glencoe Regional Health. "Please reach out to the individual directly for more information on any preferences she may have for accepting donations."

Beesing and her husband moved to Glencoe in 2020 on the promise of a job that went away when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They eventually filed for bankruptcy and agreed to a court-ordered plan to slowly pay back debts.

Then Beesing got pregnant, which she said was a surprise because she thought she was infertile because of her health problems. The 35-year-old needed extra prenatal monitoring because her diabetes added risk to the pregnancy. A fresh round of bills stacked up.

Beesing works in the Carver County library system and her husband, Mark, is in management training for a restaurant. They have health insurance, but fell behind as a result of co-pays and deductibles.

Beesing has set up an online fundraiser and is represented by bankruptcy attorney Margaret Henehan. She said she is grateful for her Glencoe doctors and wants to pay her debts but disagrees with any policy that cuts off access to health care while patients try to catch up.

"We are hard-working people and have medical insurance, but the costs of specialists or continued care for chronic issues just keep piling up before anyone can even get a chance to get ahead," she said.

This is the story of how shotguns and Kate Spade saved a town festival.

When tight finances and slipping attendance and sponsorship threatened the long-standing Glencoe Days in Glencoe, Minn., about 50 miles west of the Twin Cities, organizers came up with an idea: bingo.

But instead of cash, a full scorecard could win a lucky player a Michael Kors purse, a Coach wallet, a Remington rifle or a SIG Sauer pistol.

Myranda VanDamme, president of the Glencoe Area Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the Glencoe Days Committee, landed on the unusual pairing after googling, "How can I make a lot of money in a short period of time?"

She found that a few nonprofit organizations were raising money by offering fancy purses worth hundreds of dollars as bingo prizes. To get men in the door, they were also adding guns as a prize option.

"I had never heard of it," VanDamme said. "I said, 'What is this? I can do it.' "

Glencoe Days had its first designer purse bingo in 2018, followed by designer purse and gun bingo in 2021.

"It has saved our program," said VanDamme.

The bingo events have raised $6,000 to $12,000 per event for Glencoe Days, a three-day festival in June that includes a carnival, live music, food trucks, a parade, fireworks and a Miss Glencoe pageant. The town of about 5,600, the McLeod County seat, has been holding the festival for more than 50 years.

In recent years, variations of firearms-and-fancy-leather-goods bingo have been popping up in Twin Cities suburbs and greater Minnesota, where they're met with seemingly little controversy. There also are guns-and-diamonds bingos or purses-and-Yeti-cooler bingos.

Gun bingo has been used for fundraising events by competitive shooting teams and local hunting groups such as Ducks Unlimited, but also by the Detroit Lakes Jaycees and as a cancer research fundraising event in Blooming Prairie. You can also find gun bingos in other states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, benefiting everything from volunteer fire departments to military museums.

It was snowing on March 11, but the spacious ballroom of the Glencoe City Center hosted a sold-out crowd of 250 for the Glencoe Days fundraiser, with participants coming from as far away as Mankato and St. Cloud.

About an equal number of men and women were eyeing the prize tables featuring purses by Coach, Michael Kors and Kate Spade and guns by Ruger, Remington and SIG Sauer. They paid $50 each for 10 rounds of bingo.

There were couples on dates, groups of women for a ladies night out. Lots were dressed in green for a contest for best dressed for St. Patrick's Day.

"My husband would love for me to pick up a gun," said bingo player Deanne Fogarty, a Belle Plaine resident. But Fogarty's husband, who was home watching the kids, would likely be out of luck. If she were to win, Fogarty said, her husband would "get a nice green purse."

It wasn't the opportunity to win a purse that brought Hutchinson resident Corey Finke to the event. "I just heard I got a chance to win a gun, so I said, 'I'm in,' " he said.

But both the men and women playing agreed that winning a nice-to-have luxury item like a purse or a rifle made the game a lot more appealing than a cash prize that would just be spent paying the bills.

"It's nice to have a different prize that I'm shooting for," Finke said.

"I think it's nice to get something other than money," said Katlyn Mayer, of Hutchinson. "You get to pick purses you wouldn't necessarily buy otherwise."

VanDamme said her organization gets a deal on the purses it buys in bulk, but the sticker price of the purse sets (which typically included a wallet, a small purse and a larger bag) can make the prizes seem like they're worth as much as $1,200. The group works with a gun dealer from Apple Valley to supply the firearms.

She said the event would give away a total of about $3,000 worth in prizes, and she was hoping to raise up to $12,000 for Glencoe Days, which will be June 23-25.

Bingo winners who chose purse sets would be able to take them home that night, but gun winners would have to go to the gun shop later to pick up their guns. Depending on the gun, winners might need to have a permit to purchase or a permit to carry or undergo a background check.

VanDamme said she's not gotten any pushback on the gun bingo since all the legal requirements are followed.

North Mankato resident Jill Schmidt is a purse bingo veteran. She came to the Glencoe event with a Kate Spade bag she won at a bingo in North Mankato. Schmidt estimates she's won about a dozen purses in the past two or three years playing bingo.

"Once I won three in one night," she said. And she was lucky again in Glencoe, winning a Michael Kors set that included an orange wallet, a crossbody purse and a tote. The wallet alone was tagged as having a retail value of $258.

"I would never spend that," Schmidt said. "So that's why I like [winning] it."

New Ulm resident Jenn Lieder also got a bingo in one of the first games of the night in Glencoe. She selected a SIG Sauer P322, a .22-caliber pistol, as her prize.

"I've been looking for one for a while," Lieder said. She said they typically sell for $400 to $450.

Lieder said she owns three handguns, but only two purses. If she won again, "I would still probably stick with guns, but I wouldn't rule out a purse," she said. "They have a pretty nice 9 millimeter gun."

Purse bingos also have been around for several years and are "extremely popular," said Steve Pedersen, regulation manager for the Minnesota Gambling Control Board. State charitable gambling rules are basically the same whether the prizes are cash or merchandise. Currently, gun bingos are less popular than purse bingos, said Pedersen.

"I've thought about gun bingo," said Marc Tobias, gambling manager for the Rosemount Area Hockey Association. He thinks a gun bingo could draw a bigger audience for a one-time event than the weekly cash bingo at a local Carbone's Pizzeria and the monthly purse bingo and Yeti cooler bingo he currently runs. But he said he'd first need to find a gun distributor and a bigger space.

"We'd have to rent out the community center," he said.

The Northwest Area Jaycees have had designer purse bingo since 2015, and "now it's 2023 and it's still hugely popular," said Terry Ward, assistant gambling manager for bingo for the northwest metro organization.

Ward said she has also tried bingo with Yeti coolers with success.

"The place is packed and men are coming in droves," she said. "People like high-end products that they wouldn't otherwise buy for themselves."