STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6275--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY April 3, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, SEAWRIGHT, ARDILA, McDONALD, FORREST, SEPTIMO, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, SIMONE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the public health law and the general business law, in relation to prohibiting medical debt from being collected by a consum- er reporting agency or included in a consumer report The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "fair medical debt reporting act". 3 § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 49-A to 4 read as follows: 5 ARTICLE 49-A 6 MEDICAL DEBT REPORTING 7 Section 4925. Definitions. 8 4926. Medical debt reporting prohibited in contracts with 9 collection entities. 10 4927. Enforcement. 11 § 4925. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms 12 shall have the following meanings: 13 1. "Medical debt" means an obligation or alleged obligation of a 14 consumer to pay any amount whatsoever related to the receipt of health 15 care services, products, or devices provided to a person by a hospital 16 licensed under article twenty-eight of this chapter, a health care 17 professional authorized under title eight of the education law or an 18 ambulance service certified under article thirty of this chapter. 19 Medical debt does not include debt charged to a credit card unless the 20 credit card is issued under an open-ended or closed-end plan offered EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09626-04-3
A. 6275--A 2 1 specifically for the payment of health care services, products, or 2 devices provided to a person. 3 2. "Collection entity" means any individual, partnership, corporation, 4 trust, estate, co-operative, association, government or government 5 subdivision, agency or other entity that either purchases medical debt 6 or collects medical debt on behalf of another entity. 7 3. "Consumer reporting agency" shall have the same meaning as such 8 term is defined in section three hundred eighty-a of the general busi- 9 ness law. 10 § 4926. Medical debt reporting prohibited in contracts with collection 11 entities. A hospital licensed under article twenty-eight of this chap- 12 ter, a health care professional authorized under title eight of the 13 education law, or an ambulance service certified under article thirty of 14 this chapter: 15 1. shall not furnish any portion of a medical debt to a consumer 16 reporting agency; and 17 2. shall include a provision in any contract entered into with a 18 collection entity for the purchase or collection of medical debt that 19 prohibits the reporting of any portion of such medical debt to a consum- 20 er reporting agency. 21 § 4927. Enforcement. Any portion of a medical debt that is furnished 22 to a consumer reporting agency shall be void. 23 § 3. Section 380-a of the general business law is amended by adding a 24 new subdivision (v) to read as follows: 25 (v) The term "medical debt" means any obligation or alleged obligation 26 of a consumer to pay any amount whatsoever related to the receipt of 27 health care services, products, or devices provided by a hospital 28 licensed under article twenty-eight of the public health law, a health 29 care professional authorized under title eight of the education law, or 30 an ambulance service certified under article thirty of the public health 31 law. 32 § 4. Subdivision (a) of section 380-j of the general business law, as 33 added by chapter 867 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows: 34 (a) No consumer reporting agency shall report or maintain in the file 35 on a consumer, information: 36 (1) relative to an arrest or a criminal charge unless there has been a 37 criminal conviction for such offense, or unless such charges are still 38 pending, 39 (2) relative to a consumer's race, religion, color, ancestry or ethnic 40 origin, [or] 41 (3) relative to a medical debt as defined in this statute; or 42 (4) which it has reason to know is inaccurate. 43 § 5. Subparagraphs (vii) and (viii) of paragraph 1 of subdivision (f) 44 of section 380-j of the general business law, as added by chapter 867 of 45 the laws of 1977, are amended to read as follows: 46 (vii) information relating to past confinement in a mental institution 47 where the date of last confinement antedates the report by more than 48 seven years; [or] 49 (viii) information relating to a medical debt regardless of the date 50 it was incurred; or 51 (ix) any other adverse information which antedates the report by more 52 than seven years. 53 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.