<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Senator <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/author/sen-roger-marshall/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Roger Marshall</a> (R-KS) is facing criticism regarding his handling of patients' minor medical debts, highlighted by a new advertisement from his Democratic opponent.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Democratic nominee for the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/kansas/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kansas</a> Senate seat, Adam Hamilton, has released a video advertisement featuring a former patient of Marshall’s, named Meischa. In the advertisement, Meischa claims she was arrested for failing to make a $50 payment to Marshall.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I was eight months pregnant, and I said, ‘Please, do not handcuff me in front of my 2-year-old daughter,'” she states in the <a href="https://x.com/TeamHamiltonHQ/status/2103494462035112413?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">advertisement</a>. “Roger Marshall preyed on the low-income families of Kansas. The healthcare system is broken, but not for Roger Marshall. He’s absolutely profiting from it.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The advertisement follows a report from the <em>New York Times</em> indicating that Marshall's former OB-GYN practice sued over 700 patients for unpaid medical bills, with 81 of those lawsuits resulting in arrests. Democrats have used this report to criticize Marshall in a state that supported President <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> by over 16 percentage points in the 2024 election.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Marshall has dismissed the <em>New York Times</em> report, labeling it “a hit job by left media, an article paid for by [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer,” during an <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senator-alleges-schumer-behind-hit-job-report-former-patients" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">interview</a> with Fox News.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I would never want anyone to be arrested because of money that they owe myself or the hospital,” Marshall told the outlet. “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.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This week, the Cook Political Report adjusted its rating of the Kansas Senate race from “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican,” with analyst Jessica Taylor noting a “very blue environment forming” nationwide.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Republican Sen. Roger Marshall has been put on the defensive over his billing and collection practices as an OBGYN, which Democrats promise to prosecute on the air in a state where advertising is fairly inexpensive,” Taylor wrote in her analysis of the Kansas rating shift. “The attacks will come just as Democratic Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton is running an increasingly strong race.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Vice President <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/jd-vance/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">JD Vance</a> visited Kansas on September 24 to support Marshall, describing him as “amazing,” a successful senator, and “just as good of a man.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“In Doc Marshall, you have a man who devoted his life to delivering babies and making sure that moms and children from every walk of life were safe and had the healthcare that they need,” Vance stated. “So I ask you this November to stand for a man who stood for moms and babies, to stand for a man who stood for all Kansas.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Recent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/kansas-us-senate-election-polls-2026.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">polling</a> between the two candidates has shown mixed results, with a new <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4733116/poll-democrat-adam-hamilton-ahead-kansas-senate-race/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emerson College poll</a> indicating Hamilton has a slight advantage.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Kansas is currently represented by two Republican senators, Marshall and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS). Marshall won his Senate election in 2020 by 11.4 percentage points over former Democratic state Sen. Barbara Bollier.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The <em>Washington Examiner</em> has reached out to Marshall’s campaign for comment.</p>