Establishes a public database for medical debt collection, requiring health care entities to report debt collection practices. Prohibits extraordinary collection actions during pending insurance appeals or before determining patient eligibility for assistance. Requires detailed patient billing information and imposes penalties for non-compliance.
Analysis summaries, actor details, and coverage mappings were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
This is a binding federal statute introduced in the U.S. Senate that would amend the Public Health Service Act with mandatory requirements, specific penalties, and enforcement mechanisms for medical debt collection practices.
This document does not address AI risks. It is a healthcare debt collection regulation focused on consumer protections, transparency requirements, and debt collection practices. No AI-related risks, systems, or technologies are mentioned or regulated.
This legislation primarily governs the Health Care and Social Assistance sector, with specific focus on hospitals, physician practices, nursing facilities, and other healthcare providers. It also has secondary coverage of the Finance and Insurance sector through regulation of debt collectors and their practices in medical debt collection.
This document does not address AI systems, AI models, or any AI lifecycle stages. It is healthcare debt collection legislation focused on consumer protections and transparency requirements for medical debt practices.
This document does not mention AI models, AI systems, or any AI-related technical concepts. It is focused exclusively on medical debt collection practices and consumer protections in healthcare billing.
United States Congress; Senator Murphy; Senator Braun
The bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Mr. Murphy (for himself and Mr. Braun) on July 25, 2023, indicating these senators are the proposers of this legislation.
Secretary of Health and Human Services; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB); Federal courts
The Secretary of HHS is designated to establish and maintain the database, develop definitions, and publish lists of non-compliant entities. The CFPB is tasked with supervision and reporting. Federal courts provide enforcement through the private right of action allowing patients to sue for damages.
Secretary of Health and Human Services; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
The Secretary is responsible for maintaining the public database and publishing annual lists of non-compliant entities. The CFPB is explicitly tasked with monitoring through its Supervision of Nondepository Covered Persons program and must submit biennial reports analyzing medical debt collections data.
Health care entities (including nonprofit, for-profit, critical access, and cancer hospitals; outpatient centers; physician group practices; physician staffing firms; nursing homes; skilled nursing facilities; long-term care facilities); Debt collectors acting on behalf of health care entities
The legislation explicitly defines and targets 'health care entities' and their debt collectors, requiring them to comply with specific debt collection practices, reporting requirements, and prohibitions on extraordinary collection actions.