The bill, in the early stages of consideration, would prohibit medical debt credit reporting by health care providers and contracted collection agencies.
03/14/2024 3:00 P.M.
1 minute read
The California legislature seeks to prevent health care providers from credit reporting medical debts in a bill introduced by State Sen. Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, with the support from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The California Association of Collectors Inc. is tracking the legislation, Senate Bill 1061, and is working with its sponsors to provide input from the accounts receivable management industry.
Proposals in the bill, authored by Limón, according to the attorney general’s office, include:
- “Health care providers should not provide information regarding a patient’s medical debt to a credit reporting agency.
- Health care providers should include a provision in any contract entered into with a collection agency that prohibits the reporting of any information regarding a patient’s medical debt to a consumer credit reporting agency.
- Credit reporting agencies should not accept, store, or disclose any information concerning a medical debt.”
The bill will be reviewed by the California Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing April 2.
While it’s in the early stages of consideration, if the bill advances, California would join Colorado and New York as states with medical debt laws.
Colorado’s law prohibiting medical debt information on credit reports took effect in August 2023, and New York’s Fair Medical Debt Reporting Act took effect in December 2023.
ACA will provide updates on the California bill and others related to medical debt for members in ACA Daily and on the ACA Huddle, which will next be held on Wednesday, March 20.
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