FL
Florida House Bill H1527

Florida 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1527 Compare Versions

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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
15-An act relating to health care expenses; creating s. 2
16-222.26, F.S.; providing additional personal property 3
17-exemptions from legal process for medical debts 4
18-resulting from services provided in certain licensed 5
19-facilities; amending s. 395.301, F.S.; requiring a 6
20-licensed facility to post on its website a consumer -7
21-friendly list of standard charges for a minimum number 8
22-of shoppable health care services; providing 9
23-definitions; requiring a licensed facility to 10
24-establish an internal grievance process for patients 11
25-to dispute charges, to make available information 12
26-necessary for initiating a grievance, and to respond 13
27-to a grievance within a specified timeframe; creating 14
28-s. 395.3011, F.S.; providing a definition; prohibiting 15
29-certain collection activities by a licensed facility; 16
30-providing an effective date. 17
31- 18
32-Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 19
33- 20
34- Section 1. Section 222.26, Florida Statutes, is cr eated to 21
35-read: 22
36- 222.26 Additional exemptions from legal process concerning 23
37-medical debt.—If a debt is owed for medical services provided by 24
38-a facility licensed under chapter 395, the following property is 25
15+An act relating to patient -consumer credit protection; 2
16+creating s. 408.7072, F.S.; requiring specified 3
17+entities to comply with federal hospital price 4
18+transparency requirements; providing administrative 5
19+fines; directing the Agency for Healthcare 6
20+Administration to impose and collect such fines; 7
21+creating s. 501.181, F.S.; providing definitions; 8
22+prohibiting consumer reporting agencies from 9
23+publishing patient-consumer medical debts under 10
24+certain conditions or without the express written 11
25+consent of the health care provider; requiring 12
26+consumer reporting agencies to remove patient -consumer 13
27+medical debt information without charge upon certain 14
28+notification; provid ing for private rights of action; 15
29+directing the Department of Agriculture and Consumer 16
30+Services to adopt rules; amending s. 559.72, F.S.; 17
31+prohibiting a person from publishing specified 18
32+patient-consumer medical debts; providing an effective 19
33+date. 20
34+ 21
35+Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22
36+ 23
37+ Section 1. Section 408.7072, Florida Statutes, is created 24
38+to read: 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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51-exempt from attachment, garnishment, or other lega l process in 26
52-an action on such debt: 27
53- (1) A debtor's interest, not to exceed $10,000 in value, 28
54-in a single motor vehicle as defined in s. 320.01(1). 29
55- (2) A debtor's interest in personal property, not to 30
56-exceed $10,000 in value, if the debtor does not cla im or receive 31
57-the benefits of a homestead exemption under s. 4, Art. X of the 32
58-State Constitution. 33
59- Section 2. Paragraphs (b) through (d) of subsection (1) of 34
60-section 395.301, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 35
61-paragraphs (c) through (e), respectively , subsection (6) is 36
62-renumbered as subsection (7), and a new paragraph (b) is added 37
63-to subsection (1) and a new subsection (6) is added to that 38
64-section, to read: 39
65- 395.301 Price transparency; itemized patient statement or 40
66-bill; patient admission status noti fication.— 41
67- (1) A facility licensed under this chapter shall provide 42
68-timely and accurate financial information and quality of service 43
69-measures to patients and prospective patients of the facility, 44
70-or to patients' survivors or legal guardians, as appropria te. 45
71-Such information shall be provided in accordance with this 46
72-section and rules adopted by the agency pursuant to this chapter 47
73-and s. 408.05. Licensed facilities operating exclusively as 48
74-state facilities are exempt from this subsection. 49
51+ 408.7072 Price transparency for health care services .—All 26
52+entities in the state subject to the requirements of 45 C.F.R. 27
53+part 180, in effect on July 1, 2022, shall comply with such 28
54+requirements. An entity that fails to comply with this section 29
55+is subject to a fine of $500 for each instance and each day of 30
56+noncompliance. The agency shall impose and collect the fines. 31
57+ Section 2. Section 501.181, Florida Statutes, is created 32
58+to read: 33
59+ 501.181 Patient-consumer credit protection .— 34
60+ (1) DEFINITIONS.-As used in this section: 35
61+ (a) "Consumer report" has the same meaning as in 15 U.S.C. 36
62+s. 1681a(d), in effect on July 1, 2022 . 37
63+ (b) "Consumer reporting agency" has the same meaning as in 38
64+15 U.S.C. s. 1681a(f), in effect on July 1, 2022 . 39
65+ (c) "Health benefit plan" means any individual, blanket, 40
66+or group plan; policy; or contract for health care services 41
67+issued in the state by an authorized health care insurer, health 42
68+maintenance organization, hospital medical service corporation, 43
69+or self-insured governmental or church plan in the state. The 44
70+term does not include supplemental plans. 45
71+ (d) "Health care provider" has the same meaning as in s. 46
72+408.07. 47
73+ (e) "Medical debt" means the outstanding balance a 48
74+patient-consumer owes to a health care provider for health care 49
75+services. 50
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8384 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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87- (b) Each licensed facility shall post on its website a 50
88-consumer-friendly list of standard charges for at least 300 51
89-shoppable health care services. If a facility provides fewer 52
90-than 300 distinct shoppable health care services, it shall make 53
91-available on its website the sta ndard charges for each service 54
92-it provides. As used in this paragraph, the term: 55
93- 1. "Shoppable health care service" means a service that 56
94-can be scheduled by a healthcare consumer in advance. The term 57
95-includes, but is not limited to, the services describe d in s. 58
96-627.6387(2)(e) and any services defined in regulations or 59
97-guidance issued by the United States Department of Health and 60
98-Human Services. 61
99- 2. "Standard charge" has the same meaning as that term is 62
100-defined in regulations or guidance issued by the Uni ted States 63
101-Department of Health and Human Services for purposes of hospital 64
102-price transparency. 65
103- (6) Each facility shall establish an internal process for 66
104-reviewing and responding to grievances from patients. Such 67
105-process must allow patients to dispute ch arges that appear on 68
106-the patient's itemized statement or bill. The facility shall 69
107-prominently post on its website and indicate in bold print on 70
108-each itemized statement or bill the instructions for initiating 71
109-a grievance and the direct contact information r equired to 72
110-initiate the grievance process. The facility must provide an 73
111-initial response to a patient grievance within 7 business days 74
88+ (f) "Patient-consumer" means any person who receives 51
89+health care services from a health care provider. 52
90+ (2) PATIENT-CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION .-A consumer 53
91+reporting agency may not publish a consumer report with a credit 54
92+impairment resulting from the medical debt of a patient -consumer 55
93+if all of the following conditions apply: 56
94+ (a) The patient-consumer was covered by a health benefit 57
95+plan when the health care services giving rise to the medical 58
96+debt were provided and such services were covered by the health 59
97+benefit plan. 60
98+ (b) The medical debt is an outstanding balance after 61
99+copayments, deductibles, and coinsuranc e owed for health care 62
100+services have been fully paid or settled, or are being paid, by 63
101+the patient-consumer as part of a payment plan. 64
102+ (3) EXPRESS CONSENT REQUIRED. -A consumer reporting agency 65
103+may not publish a consumer report with a credit impairment 66
104+resulting from the medical debt of a patient -consumer without 67
105+the express written consent of the health care provider. 68
106+ (4) REMOVAL OF CREDIT IMPAIRMENT. - 69
107+ (a) A consumer reporting agency shall remove any credit 70
108+impairment resulting from the medical debt of a patient-consumer 71
109+if the patient-consumer provides notification to the consumer 72
110+reporting agency that the medical debt has been fully paid or 73
111+settled, or that the patient -consumer is in compliance with a 74
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120120 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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124-after the patient formally files a grievance disputing all or a 75
125-portion of an itemized statement or bill. 76
126- Section 3. Section 395.3011, Florida Statutes, is created 77
127-to read: 78
128- 395.3011 Billing and collection activities. — 79
129- (1) As used in this section, the term "extraordinary 80
130-collection action" means any of the following actions taken by a 81
131-licensed facility against an indiv idual in relation to obtaining 82
132-payment of a bill for care covered under the facility's 83
133-financial assistance policy: 84
134- (a) Selling the individual's debt to another party. 85
135- (b) Reporting adverse information about the individual to 86
136-consumer credit reporting agencies or credit bureaus. 87
137- (c) Deferring, denying, or requiring a payment before 88
138-providing medically necessary care because of the individual's 89
139-nonpayment of one or more bills for previously provided care 90
140-covered under the facility's financial assistanc e policy. 91
141- (d) Actions that require a legal or judicial process, 92
142-including, but not limited to: 93
143- 1. Placing a lien on the individual's property; 94
144- 2. Foreclosing on the individual's real property; 95
145- 3. Attaching or seizing the individual's bank account o r 96
146-any other personal property; 97
147- 4. Commencing a civil action against the individual; 98
148- 5. Causing the individual's arrest; or 99
124+payment plan, within 30 days after the date the notification was 75
125+received. 76
126+ (b) Notification includes, but is not limited to, 77
127+documentation showing that the medical debt of the patient -78
128+consumer is fully paid or settled or that the patient -consumer 79
129+is paying scheduled installments in a payment plan. 80
130+ (c) A consumer reporting agency may not charge the 81
131+patient-consumer a fee to remove the credit impairment. 82
132+ (5) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. - 83
133+ (a) A patient-consumer who is aggrieved by a violation of 84
134+this section may bring an action to: 85
135+ 1. Enjoin such violation. 86
136+ 2. Recover actual damages or $1,500, whichever is greater. 87
137+ (b) In addition to any damages awarded, a patient -consumer 88
138+shall also be awarded reasonable attorney fees and court costs. 89
139+ (c) A civil action brought pursuant to this section must 90
140+commence within 2 years after the date of the violation. 91
141+ (d) All parties may agree upon arbitration to resolve the 92
142+medical debt dispute. 93
143+ (6) RULEMAKING.-The Department of Agriculture and Consumer 94
144+Services shall adopt rules to implement this section. 95
145+ Section 3. Subsection (20) is added to section 559.72, 96
146+Florida Statutes, to read: 97
147+ 559.72 Prohibited practices generally. —In collecting 98
148+consumer debts, no person shall: 99
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157157 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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161- 6. Garnishing the individual's wages. 100
162- (2) A facility may not engage in an extraordinary 101
163-collection action against an individu al to obtain payment for 102
164-services: 103
165- (a) Before the facility has made reasonable efforts to 104
166-determine whether the individual is eligible for assistance 105
167-under its financial assistance policy for the care provided. 106
168- (b) Before the facility has provided the individual with 107
169-an itemized statement or bill. 108
170- (c) During an ongoing grievance process as described in s. 109
171-395.301(6). 110
172- (d) Before billing any applicable insurer and allowing the 111
173-insurer to adjudicate a claim. 112
174- (e) For 30 days after notifying the patien t in writing, by 113
175-certified mail or other traceable delivery method, that a 114
176-collection action will commence absent additional action by the 115
177-patient. 116
178- Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 117
161+ (20) Publish a patient -consumer medical debt in violation 100
162+of s. 501.181(2) and (3). 101
163+ Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 102