STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8373--A IN SENATE January 24, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection -- recommitted to the Committee on Consumer Protection in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the general business law and the public health law, in relation to the definition of medical debt The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision (v) of section 380-a of the general business 2 law, as added by chapter 727 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 (v) The term "medical debt" means any obligation or alleged obligation 5 of a consumer to pay any amount whatsoever related to the receipt of 6 health care services, products, or devices provided by a hospital 7 licensed under article twenty-eight of the public health law, a health 8 care professional authorized under title eight of the education law, or 9 an ambulance service certified under article thirty of the public health 10 law. Medical debt does not include debt charged to a credit card unless 11 the credit card is issued under an open-ended or closed-ended plan 12 offered specifically for the payment of health care services, products, 13 or devices provided to a person. 14 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 4925 of the public health law, as added 15 by chapter 727 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows: 16 1. "Medical debt" means an obligation or alleged obligation of a 17 consumer to pay any amount whatsoever related to the receipt of health 18 care services, products, or devices provided to a person by a hospital 19 licensed under article twenty-eight of this chapter, a health care 20 professional authorized under title eight of the education law or an 21 ambulance service certified under article thirty of this chapter. 22 Medical debt does not include debt charged to a credit card unless the 23 credit card is issued under an open-ended or [closed-end] closed-ended 24 plan offered specifically for the payment of health care services, 25 products, or devices provided to a person. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13925-02-4
S. 8373--A 2 1 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to 2 have been in full force and effect on the same date and in the same 3 manner as chapter 727 of the laws of 2023 amending the public health law 4 and the general business law relating to prohibiting medical debt from 5 being collected by a consumer reporting agency or included in a consumer 6 report, takes effect.