Indiana 2026 Regular Session Status: Passed Senate Bipartisan · 13 R · 7 D cosponsors

SB 85 — Health care debt and costs.

Last action — First reading: referred to Committee on Public Health

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced December 08, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the House.

Odds of enactment

Moderate chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a moderate chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 54% · moderate confidence

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 20 sponsors

    3 primary, 17 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (13 R · 7 D) — cross-party backing.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Authorizes the attorney general to enforce provisions concerning health care debt wage garnishment and principal residence lien restrictions and establish a complaint process. Requires hospitals to do the following: (1) Offer a person who meets certain income guidelines and has received health services the opportunity to pay the charges through a payment plan that satisfies certain requirements. (2) Develop a written notice about a charity care program operated by the hospital, provide the notice to patients, and post the notice. (3) Include certain information concerning financial assistance on a billing statement. (4) Requires a hospital that reports an annual gross patient revenue of at least $20,000,000 to provide written notice and information to a person who has requested an eligibility determination concerning a payment plan or charity care. Provides that the unpaid earnings of a consumer who meets specified income eligibility requirements may not be attached by garnishment if an individual makes 200% of the federal income poverty level or less, and limits the amount to be garnished over a certain amount of the individual's disposable earnings in satisfaction of: (1) health care debt owed or alleged to be owed by the consumer; or (2) any amount of the judgment that represents health care debt determined to be owed by the consumer. Provides that: (1) health care debt owed or alleged to be owed by a consumer; or (2) in an action against a consumer in which a judgment has been entered, the amount of the judgment that represents health care debt determined to be owed by the consumer; does not constitute a lien against the consumer's principal residence for a consumer. Requires the disclosure of whether a debt is a health care debt in the execution of a judgment. Provides that in any action filed in Indiana for the recovery of health care debt owed or alleged to be owed by a consumer, the principal residence of the consumer is not liable to judgment or attachment or to be sold on execution against the consumer.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. First reading: referred to Committee on Public Health

  2. Referred to the House

  3. Third reading: passed; Roll Call 135: yeas 33, nays 15

  4. Senators Walker G, Walker K, Bohacek added as coauthors

  5. Senator Taylor G added as coauthor

  6. Senator Spencer added as coauthor

  7. Senator Jackson L added as coauthor

  8. Senator Goode added as coauthor

  9. Senator Ford J.D. added as coauthor

  10. Senators Alting, Doriot added as coauthors

  11. Cosponsor: Representative Goss-Reaves

  12. House sponsor: Representative McGuire

  13. Representative Smaltz added as cosponsor

  14. Representative Barrett added as cosponsor

  15. Second reading: ordered engrossed

  16. Senator Randolph added as coauthor

  17. Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  18. Senator Deery added as coauthor

  19. Senator Yoder added as coauthor

  20. Senator Becker added as coauthor

  21. Senator Charbonneau removed as second author

  22. Senator Qaddoura added as second author

  23. Senator Charbonneau added as author

  24. Senator Qaddoura removed as author

  25. Authored by Senators Qaddoura, Charbonneau

  26. First reading: referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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3 sponsors · 17 co-sponsors · 130 not signed on

Sponsors (3)

Co-sponsors (17)

Not signed on (130)

130 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 130 →

"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.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

finance healthcare labor
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 85 do?
Authorizes the attorney general to enforce provisions concerning health care debt wage garnishment and principal residence lien restrictions and establish a complaint process. Requires hospitals to do the following: (1) Offer a person who meets certain income guidelines and has received health services the opportunity to pay the charges through a payment plan that satisfies certain requirements. (2) Develop a written notice about a charity care program operated by the hospital, provide the notice to patients, and post the notice. (3) Include certain information concerning financial assistance on a billing statement. (4) Requires a hospital that reports an annual gross patient revenue of at least $20,000,000 to provide written notice and information to a person who has requested an eligibility determination concerning a payment plan or charity care. Provides that the unpaid earnings of a consumer who meets specified income eligibility requirements may not be attached by garnishment if an individual makes 200% of the federal income poverty level or less, and limits the amount to be garnished over a certain amount of the individual's disposable earnings in satisfaction of: (1) health care debt owed or alleged to be owed by the consumer; or (2) any amount of the judgment that represents health care debt determined to be owed by the consumer. Provides that: (1) health care debt owed or alleged to be owed by a consumer; or (2) in an action against a consumer in which a judgment has been entered, the amount of the judgment that represents health care debt determined to be owed by the consumer; does not constitute a lien against the consumer's principal residence for a consumer. Requires the disclosure of whether a debt is a health care debt in the execution of a judgment. Provides that in any action filed in Indiana for the recovery of health care debt owed or alleged to be owed by a consumer, the principal residence of the consumer is not liable to judgment or attachment or to be sold on execution against the consumer.
Who sponsors SB 85?
SB 85 is sponsored by Ben Smaltz (Republican), Brad Barrett (Republican), Lori Goss-Reaves (Republican), Julie McGuire (Republican), Mike Bohacek (Republican), Kyle Walker (Republican), Greg Walker (Republican), Greg Taylor (Democrat), Mark Spencer (Democrat), La Keisha Jackson (Democrat), Greg Goode (Republican), J.D. Ford (Democrat), Blake Doriot (Republican), Ron Alting (Republican), Lonnie Randolph (Democrat), Spencer Deery (Republican), Shelli Yoder (Democrat), Vaneta Becker (Republican), Fady Qaddoura (Democrat), and Ed Charbonneau (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 85?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced December 08, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track SB 85?
Track SB 85 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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