A bill in Washington that would prevent medical debt from appearing on a person’s credit report, Washington SB 5480, was introduced in January and is in the House having passed the Senate.
Washington SB 5480 goes further than the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule mainly by preventing medical devices such as wheelchairs and prosthetics from being taken away from people that do not pay their debt on time and only applies to Washington Residents.
The original bill did not pass on the first reading. One of the changes to Washington SB 5480 was to define medical debt as “debt owed by a consumer to a person whose primary business is providing medical services, products, or devices, or to the person’s agent or assignee, for the provision of medical services, products, or devices. Medical debt includes, but is not limited to, medical bills that are not past due or that have been paid. For the purposes of this subsection, ‘medical service, product, or device’ includes, but is not limited to, any service, drug, medication, product, or device sold, offered, or provided to a patient by a health care provider or health care facility, as defined in RCW 48.43.005, except that it does not include cosmetic surgery. ‘Cosmetic surgery’ shall not include reconstructive surgery when such service is incidental to or follows surgery resulting from trauma, infection, or other diseases of the involved party.”
Washington SB 5480 is currently in the House where it is scheduled to be read in the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Business. Americollect will continue to monitor this bill and any impact it may have on Washington hospitals and healthcare providers.
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