SB 395 — AN ACT CONCERNING THE REPORTING OF MEDICAL DEBT.

Substitute Senate GeneralBill Assembly File No.

264395 FebruaryPublic Session,Act 2024 Substitute Senate Bill No.

39524-6 Senate,AN AprilACT 4,CONCERNING 2024THE TheREPORTING CommitteeOF onMEDICAL HumanDEBT. Services reported through SEN.

LESSER of the 9th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REPORTING OF MEDICAL DEBT.

(1) "Medical"Collection debt"entity" means anany obligationindividual, orpartnership, allegedcorporation, obligationtrust, ofestate, acooperative, consumerassociation, togovernment payor anygovernment amountsubdivision, relatedagency toor theother receiptentity ofthat healtheither carepurchases services,medical productsdebt or devicescollects providedmedical todebt suchon consumerbehalf byof aanother healthentity; care provider.

"Medical(2)"Credit debt"rating doesagency"and"credit notreport"have includethesame debtmeanings chargedas toprovided ain creditsection card36a-695 unlessof the creditgeneral cardstatutes; is issued under an open-end or closed-end plan offered specifically for the payment of health care services, products or devices.

(2)(3) "Collection"Health entity"care goods" means anygoods, individual,including, partnership,but corporation,not trust,limited estate,to, cooperative,products, association,devices, governmentdurable or government subdivision, agency or other entity that either purchases medical debtequipment orand collectsprescription medicaldrugs; debt on behalf of another entity.

(3)"Credit(4) rating"Health agency"and"creditcare report"haveprovider" thesamehas meaningsthe sSB395same /meaning Fileas No.provided in section 19a-17b of the general statutes;

264(5) 1"Health sSB395care Fileservices" No.has the same meaning as provided in section 38a-478 of the general statutes;

264and as(6) provided"Medical indebt" sectionmeans 36a-695an obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay any amount related to the generalreceipt statutes.by the consumer of Substitute Senate Bill No.

(4)395 "Healthhealth care provider"goods hasor thehealth samecare meaningservices. as provided in section 19a-17b of the general statutes.

(b)"Medical Adebt" healthdoes care provider doing business in this state (1) shall not reportinclude any portion of a medical debt charged to a credit ratingcard agencyunless forthe use in a credit report,card andis (2)issued shallunder includean inopen-end anyor contractclosed-end enteredcredit intoplan withoffered aspecifically collection entity for the purchasepayment or collection of medicalcharges debtrelated ato provisionhealth thatcare prohibitsgoods theor reportinghealth ofcare anyservices. portion of such medical debt to a credit rating agency.

(c)(b) AnyOn and after July 1, 2024, any health care provider or any collection entity doing business in this state shall not report any portion of a medical debt that is reported to a credit rating agency byfor ause healthin carea providercredit shallreport. be void.

A health care provider doing business in this state shall include in any contract entered into with a collection entity on and after July 1, 2024, for the purchase or collection of medical debt a provision that prohibits the reporting of any portion of such medical debt to a credit rating agency.

(c) Any portion of a medical debt that is reported to a credit rating agency shall be void.

(c) On[On or after October 1, 2022, nono] No hospital or entity that is owned by or affiliated with such hospital, as defined in section 19a-490, and no collection agent, as defined in section 19a-509b, that receives a referral from a hospital or entity that is owned by or affiliated with such hospital, shall:

[, for a period of one year beginning on the date that such patient first receives a bill for health care provided by the hospital or entity that is owned by or affiliated with such hospital to such patient on or after October 1, 2022;] (2) Initiate[Initiate] On or after October 1, 2022, initiate an action to foreclose a lien on an individual patient's primary residence if the lien was filed toPublic secureAct paymentNo. for health care provided by the hospital or entity that is owned by or affiliated with such hospital to such patient on or after October 1, 2022;

or24-6 (3)2 Applyof to3 aSubstitute courtSenate forBill an execution against an individual patient's wages pursuant to section 52-361a, or otherwise seek to garnish such sSB395 / File No.

264395 2to sSB395secure Filepayment No.for health care provided by the hospital or entity that is owned by or affiliated with such hospital to such patient on or after October 1, 2022;

264or (3) [Apply] On or after October 1, 2022, apply to a court for an execution against an individual patient's wages pursuant to section 52- 361a, or otherwise seek to garnish such patient's wages, to collect payment for health care provided by the hospital or entity that is owned by or affiliated with such hospital to such patient on or after October 1, 2022, if such patient is eligible for the hospital bed fund.

ThisApproved actMay shall9, take2024 effectPublic asAct followsNo. and shall amend the following sections:

Section24-6 13 Julyof 1,3 2024 New section Sec.

2 July 1, 2024 19a-673b(c) Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

The title was changed.

HS Joint Favorable Subst.

sSB395 / File No.

264 3 sSB395 File No.

264 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill, which prohibits certain health care providers from reporting medical debt for use in a credit report, has no fiscal impact to the state.

The Out Years State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None sSB395 / File No.

264 4 sSB395 File No.

264 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 395 AN ACT CONCERNING THE REPORTING OF MEDICAL DEBT.

SUMMARY This bill (1) prohibits Connecticut health care providers and hospitals or entities owned by or affiliated with hospitals from reporting medical debt to credit rating agencies for use in a credit report and (2) voids any medical debt that is reported to credit rating agencies.