AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE MEDICAL DEBT PROTECTION ACT.
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SB 156 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE MEDICAL DEBT PROTECTION ACT.
Last action — Signed by Governor
No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.
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✓Introduced
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✓In Committee
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✓Passed Senate
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✓Passed House
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✓To Executive
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6Enacted
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 10, 2025. Enacted.
Signed by Governor Matt Meyer (Democratic) on July 29, 2025.
Prognosis
Where this bill stands today.
Odds of enactment
HighHow often bills like it became law.
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Enacted
Current position in the legislative process.
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15 sponsors
15 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.
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Bipartisan support
Sponsored across 2 parties (12 D · 2 R) — cross-party backing.
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Cleared a recorded vote
Passed 2 recorded votes so far.
Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.
Summary
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 156. Like Senate Bill No. 156, this Substitute prohibits the reporting of medical debt to consumer reporting agencies and prohibits any medical debt from being included on a consumer report. Since 2023, at least 9 other states have passed laws that prohibit or restrict the reporting of medical debt on credit reports, including California, New Jersy, and Virginia. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 156 in that it (1) adds language to the purpose section of the statute making it clear that the intent of the chapter is for medical debt not to be used in credit, employment, or housing decisions; (2) removes the proposed definition of medical debt information and instead adds a definition of medical debt; and (3) removes the proposed prohibition language on using a credit report containing medical debt information from being used when making decisions regarding someone’s credit, employment, or housing.
Bill Text
What changed in the latest version
81 added · 8 removedPlain-language change summary
The amendment to SB 156 clarifies the definition of medical debt by replacing the term "solely" with "specifically." This change is meant to enhance the understanding of what constitutes medical debt under the Medical Debt Protection Act. It matters because it specifies the context in which medical debt is recognized, potentially impacting how such debts are handled in relation to consumer protections.
Mantzavinos DELAWARE& STATESen. SENATE 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE AMENDMENT NO.
1Townsend TO& SENATERep. SUBSTITUTE NO.
K.
Williams & Rep.
Minor-Brown Sens.
Hansen, Hoffner, Huxtable, Lockman, Pinkney, Sokola, Walsh;
Reps.
Burns, K.
Johnson, Lambert, Morrison, Osienski, Snyder-Hall DELAWARE STATE SENATE 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE SUBSTITUTE NO.
156 AN ACT TO AMEND SenateTITLE Substitute6 No.OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE MEDICAL DEBT PROTECTION ACT.
1BE forIT SenateENACTED BillBY No.THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
156Section on1. line 33 by deleting “solely” as it appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof “specifically”.
SYNOPSISAmend ThisChapter amendment25J, clarifiesTitle 6 of the definitionDelaware ofCode medicalby debtmaking createddeletions inas Senateshown Substituteby No.strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
1§ for2501J. Senate Bill No.
Purpose.
This chapter is known as the “Medical Debt Protection Act.” This chapter acknowledges that medical debt may be burdensome to individuals regardless of their socioeconomic status and that medical debts may be unexpected.
It is the intent of the General Assembly that medical debt should not be used when making decisions regarding an individual’s credit, employment, or housing.
The purpose of this chapter is to reduce burdensome medical debt and to protect patients in their dealings with medical creditors, medical debt buyers, and medical debt collectors with respect to such debt.
This chapter is to be construed as a consumer protection statute and must be liberally and remedially construed to effectuate its purposes.
§ 2502J.
Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter:
(4) “Extraordinary collection action” means any of the following:
a.
Selling an individual’s debt to another party, except if, prior to the sale, the medical creditor has entered into a legally binding written agreement with the medical debt buyer of the debt under which all of the following apply:
1.
The medical debt buyer or collector is prohibited from engaging in any extraordinary collection actions to obtain payment for the care.
2.
The medical debt buyer is prohibited from charging interest on the debt.
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The debt is returnable to or recallable by the medical creditor upon a determination by the medical creditor or medical debt buyer that the individual is eligible for financial assistance.
4.
The medical debt buyer is required to adhere to procedures which must be specified in the agreement that ensure that the individual does not pay, and has no obligation to pay, the medical debt buyer and the medical creditor together more than they are personally responsible for paying in compliance with this chapter.
5.
The medical debt buyer is prohibited from communicating with, or reporting, any medical debt information to any consumer reporting agency regarding a consumer’s medical debt.
(11) “Medical debt” means the following:
a.
Show all 79 changed lines (39 more)
Debt owed by a consumer that is both of the following:
1.
Owed to a person whose primary business is providing medical services, products, or devices.
2.
For the provision of medical services, products, or devices.
b.
Medical debt includes medical bills that are not past due or have already been paid.
c.
Medical debt does not include debt charged to a credit card unless the credit card is issued under an open-end or closed-end credit plan offered solely for the payment of health care services.
medical services, products, or devices.
(11) (12) “Medical debt buyer” means an individual or entity that is engaged in the business of purchasing medical debts for collection purposes, whether it collects the debt itself or hires a third party for collection or an attorney for litigation in order to collect such debt.
(12) (13) “Medical debt collector” means any person that regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, medical debts originally owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another.
A medical debt buyer is a medical debt collector.
Medical debt collector does not include the Division of Child Support Services or an individual filing a child support action under Title 13.
Medical debt collector does not include anyone collecting debt charged to a credit card.
(13) (14) “Patient” means the individual who received health-care services, and for the purposes of this chapter, includes a parent if the patient is a minor or a legal guardian if the patient is an adult under guardianship.
(14) (15) “Time of service” means before a patient leaves or is discharged from a large health-care facility, or within 10 days of discharge if the patient receives emergency care from a large health-care facility or from a provider employed by a large health-care facility.
§ 2507J.
Medical debt and consumer reporting agencies.
(a) For a period of 1 year following the date when the consumer was first given a bill for medical debt or 3 months following the date of the most recent payment made towards a payment plan on medical debt, whichever is later, no SD :
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06/10/2025 04:54 PM medical creditor or medical debt collector may communicate with or report any information to any consumer reporting agency regarding such medical debt.
(b) After the time period described in subsection (a) of this section, medical creditors and medical debt collectors must give consumers at least 1 additional bill before reporting a medical debt to any consumer reporting agency.
The amount reported to the consumer reporting agency must be the same as the amount stated in this bill, and such bill must state that the debt is being reported to a consumer reporting agency.
Medical debt collectors must also provide the notice required by 15 U.S.C.
§ 1692g before reporting a debt to a consumer reporting agency.
(a) No person may report any medical debt to a consumer reporting agency.
(b) A consumer reporting agency is prohibited from making a consumer report that the consumer reporting agency knows or should know contains information related to a consumer’s medical debt.
SYNOPSIS This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No.
Like Senate Bill No.
156, this Substitute prohibits the reporting of medical debt to consumer reporting agencies and prohibits any medical debt from being included on a consumer report.
Since 2023, at least 9 other states have passed laws that prohibit or restrict the reporting of medical debt on credit reports, including California, New Jersy, and Virginia.
This Act differs from Senate Bill No.
156 in that it (1) adds language to the purpose section of the statute making it clear that the intent of the chapter is for medical debt not to be used in credit, employment, or housing decisions;
(2) removes the proposed definition of medical debt information and instead adds a definition of medical debt;
and (3) removes the proposed prohibition language on using a credit report containing medical debt information from being used when making decisions regarding someone’s credit, employment, or housing.
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Action History
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Signed by Governor
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Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
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Suspension of Rules in Senate
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Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 1 ABSENT 1 VACANT
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Lifted From Table in House
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Laid On Table in House
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Amendment HA 1 to SS 1 - Passed In House by Voice Vote
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Lifted From Table in House
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Amendment HA 1 to SS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
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Laid On Table in House
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Reported Out of Committee (Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce) in House with 2 Favorable, 6 On Its Merits
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Assigned to Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce Committee in House
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Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
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Amendment SA 2 to SS 1 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
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Amendment SA 1 to SS 1 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
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Reported Out of Committee (Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits
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Amendment SA 1 to SS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
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Adopted in lieu of the original bill SB 156, and Assigned to Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology Committee in Senate
Sponsors
- Edward S. Osienski · Primary
- Eric Morrison · Primary
- Ray Seigfried · Primary
- Bryant L. Richardson · Primary
- John "Jack" Walsh · Primary
- David P. Sokola · Primary
- Marie Pinkney · Primary
- Josue O Ortega · Primary
- Russell Huxtable · Primary
- Claire Snyder-Hall · Primary
- Melanie Ross Levin · Primary
- Trey Paradee · Primary
- Brian Pettyjohn · Primary
- Bryan Townsend · Primary
- Spiros Mantzavinos · Primary
Sponsorship breakdown
Export CSV (upgrade) →15 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 47 not signed on
Sponsors (15)
- Edward S. Osienski Democratic
- Eric Morrison Democratic
- Ray Seigfried Democratic
- Bryant L. Richardson Republican
- John "Jack" Walsh Democratic
- David P. Sokola Democratic
- Marie Pinkney Democratic
- Josue O Ortega Democratic
- Russell Huxtable Democratic
- Claire Snyder-Hall Democratic
- Melanie Ross Levin
- Trey Paradee Democratic
- Brian Pettyjohn Republican
- Bryan Townsend Democratic
- Spiros Mantzavinos Democratic
Co-sponsors (0)
None.
Not signed on (47)
47 members have not signed on to this bill.
Show all 47 →"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.
Votes
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 39 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| % of votes cast | 98% | 0% | 0% | 3% |
How each member voted (40)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Claire Snyder-Hall | Democratic | Yea |
| Cyndie Romer | Democratic | Yea |
| DeShanna U Neal | Democratic | Yea |
| Debra Heffernan | Democratic | Yea |
| Edward S. Osienski | Democratic | Yea |
| Eric Morrison | Democratic | Yea |
| Frank Burns | Democratic | Yea |
| Franklin D. Cooke | Democratic | Yea |
| Josue O Ortega | Democratic | Yea |
| Kamela T Smith | Democratic | Yea |
| Kendra Johnson | Democratic | Yea |
| Kerri Evelyn Harris | Democratic | Yea |
| Kimberly Williams | Democratic | Yea |
| Krista Griffith | Democratic | Yea |
| Larry Lambert | Democratic | Yea |
| Madinah Wilson-Anton | Democratic | Yea |
| Mara Gorman | Democratic | Yea |
| Melanie Ross Levin | Democratic | Yea |
| Melissa Minor-Brown | Democratic | Yea |
| Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha | Democratic | Yea |
| Sean M. Lynn | Democratic | Yea |
| Sherae'a Moore | Democratic | Yea |
| Sophie Phillips | Democratic | Yea |
| Stephanie T. Bolden | Democratic | Yea |
| William Bush | Democratic | Yea |
| William J. Carson | Democratic | Yea |
| Bryan W. Shupe | Republican | Yea |
| Charles S Postles Jr. | Republican | Yea |
| Daniel B. Short | Republican | Yea |
| Jeff Hilovsky | Republican | Yea |
| Jeffrey N. Spiegelman | Republican | Yea |
| Jesse R. Vanderwende | Republican | Yea |
| Kevin S Hensley | Republican | Yea |
| Lyndon D. Yearick | Republican | Yea |
| Michael F. Smith | Republican | Yea |
| Richard G. Collins | Republican | Yea |
| Ronald E. Gray | Republican | Yea |
| Shannon Morris | Republican | Yea |
| Timothy D. Dukes | Republican | Not Voting |
| Valerie Jones Giltner | Republican | Yea |
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| % of votes cast | 95% | 0% | 0% | 5% |
How each member voted (21)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Bryan Townsend | Democratic | Yea |
| Daniel Cruce | Democratic | Yea |
| Darius J. Brown | Democratic | Yea |
| David P. Sokola | Democratic | Yea |
| John "Jack" Walsh | Democratic | Yea |
| Kyra L. Hoffner | Democratic | Yea |
| Laura V. Sturgeon | Democratic | Yea |
| Marie Pinkney | Democratic | Yea |
| Nicole Poore | Democratic | Yea |
| Ray Seigfried | Democratic | Yea |
| Russell Huxtable | Democratic | Yea |
| S. Elizabeth Lockman | Democratic | Yea |
| Spiros Mantzavinos | Democratic | Yea |
| Stephanie L. Hansen | Democratic | Yea |
| Trey Paradee | Democratic | Yea |
| Brian Pettyjohn | Republican | Yea |
| Bryant L. Richardson | Republican | Yea |
| Dave G. Lawson | Republican | Not Voting |
| David L. Wilson | Republican | Yea |
| Eric Buckson | Republican | Yea |
| Gerald W. Hocker | Republican | Yea |
Subjects
Frequently asked questions
- What does SB 156 do?
- This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 156. Like Senate Bill No. 156, this Substitute prohibits the reporting of medical debt to consumer reporting agencies and prohibits any medical debt from being included on a consumer report. Since 2023, at least 9 other states have passed laws that prohibit or restrict the reporting of medical debt on credit reports, including California, New Jersy, and Virginia. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 156 in that it (1) adds language to the purpose section of the statute making it clear that the intent of the chapter is for medical debt not to be used in credit, employment, or housing decisions; (2) removes the proposed definition of medical debt information and instead adds a definition of medical debt; and (3) removes the proposed prohibition language on using a credit report containing medical debt information from being used when making decisions regarding someone’s credit, employment, or housing.
- Who sponsors SB 156?
- SB 156 is sponsored by Edward S. Osienski (Democratic), Eric Morrison (Democratic), Ray Seigfried (Democratic), Bryant L. Richardson (Republican), John "Jack" Walsh (Democratic), David P. Sokola (Democratic), Marie Pinkney (Democratic), Josue O Ortega (Democratic), Russell Huxtable (Democratic), Claire Snyder-Hall (Democratic), Melanie Ross Levin, Trey Paradee (Democratic), Brian Pettyjohn (Republican), Bryan Townsend (Democratic), and Spiros Mantzavinos (Democratic).
- What is the current status of SB 156?
- This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 10, 2025. Enacted.
- Where can I track SB 156?
- Track SB 156 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.
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