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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
SENATE BILL 1745 By: Boren
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to hospitals; defining terms;
prohibiting hospitals from taking certain collection
actions against patients ; providing exception;
providing for codification; and providing an
effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1 -725.11 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
As used in this act, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. “Collection action” means any of the following actions taken
with respect to a debt for items and servic es that were purchased
from or provided to a patient by a hospital on a date during which
the hospital was not in material compliance with hospital price
transparency laws:
a. attempting to collect a debt f rom a patient or patient
guarantor by referring th e debt, directly or
indirectly, to a debt collector, a collection agency,
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or other third party retained by or on behalf of the
hospital,
b. suing the patient or patient gu arantor or enforcing an
arbitration or mediation clause in any hospital
documents, including contracts, agreements,
statements, or bills, or
c. directly or indirectly causing a report to be made to
a consumer reporting agency;
2. a. “Collection agency” means any:
(1) person who engages in a business, the principal
purpose of which is the c ollection of debts, or
(2) person who:
(a) regularly collects or attempts to co llect,
directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or
asserted to be owed or due to another,
(b) takes assignment of debts for collection
purposes, or
(c) directly or indirectly s olicits for
collection debts owed or due or asserted to
be owed or due to another.
b. Collection agency does not include:
(1) any officer or employee of a creditor whi le, in
the name of the creditor, collec ting debts for
such creditor,
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(2) any person while acting as a collection agency
for another person, both of whom are related by
common ownership or affiliated by corporate
control, if the person acting as a collection
agency does so only for creditors to whom it is
so related or affiliated and if the pri ncipal
business of the person is not the collection of
debts,
(3) any officer or employee of the United States or
any state to the extent that collecting or
attempting to collect any debt is in the
performance of the officer’s or employee’s
official duties,
(4) any person while serving or attempting to serve
legal process on any othe r person in connection
with the judicial enforcement of any debt,
(5) any person collecting or attempting to collect
any debt owed or due or asserted to be owed or
due to another to the extent that:
(a) the activity is incidental to a bona fide
fiduciary obligation or a bona fide escrow
arrangement,
(b) the activity concerns a debt that was
extended by the person,
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(c) the activity concerns a debt that was not in
default at the time it was obtained by the
person, or
(d) the activity concerns a debt obtained by the
person as a secured party in a commercial
credit transaction involving the creditor,
or
(6) any person whose principal business is the making
of loans or the servicing of debt not in default
and who acts as a loan correspondent, seller and
servicer for the owner, or holder of a debt that
is secured by a deed of trust on real property,
whether or not the debt is also secured by an
interest in personal prope rty.
c. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph b of
this paragraph, collection agency in cludes any person
who, in the process of collecting the person ’s own
debts, uses another name that would indicate that a
third person is collecting or attempting to collect
such debts;
3. a. “Debt” means any obligation or alleged obligation of a
consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction,
whether or not the obligation has been reduced to
judgment.
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b. Debt does not include a debt for business, investment,
commercial, or agricultural purposes or a debt
incurred by a business;
4. “Debt collector” means any person employed or engaged by a
collection agency to perform the collection of debts owed or due or
asserted to be owed or due to another;
5. “Hospital” means, consistent with 45 C.F.R., Section 180.20,
a hospital licensed by the State Department of Health under Section
1-702 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
6. “Items and services” or “items or services” means items and
services as defined in 45 C .F.R., Section 180.20.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be co dified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1 -725.12 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. On and after the effective date of thi s act, no debt
collector shall initiate or pursue a collection action against the
patient or patient guarantor for a debt owed for the items or
services purchased from or provided to a patient by the hospital to
a collection agency.
B. Nothing in this act:
1. Prohibits a hospital from billing a patient, patient
guarantor, or third-party payer, including a health insurer, for
items or services provided to the patient; or
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2. Requires a hospital to refund any payment made to the
hospital for items or services provided to the patient, so long as
no collection action is taken in violation of this act.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
59-2-3242 MR 1/17/2024 10:37:30 AM