SENATOR GUSTAVO RIVERA APPLAUDS GOVERNOR HOCHUL FOR SIGNING INTO LAW THE FIRST OF HIS THREE BILLS TO END MEDICAL DEBT

State Senator Gustavo Rivera’s bill (S.6522A) to stop debt collectors from placing liens on patients’ homes and garnishing their wages to collect medical debt was signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul.   This law will prohibit imposing and enforcing liens on a patient's primary residence or garnishing wages to satisfy a judgment in a medical debt lawsuit.   According to a 2021 report released by the Community Service Society, over 50,000 New York patients were sued for medical debt by non-profit hospitals in the past five years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. These cases do not stabilize a hospital's finances, but instead, have devastating financial consequences for the patient, including increasing housing instability. “New Yorkers should not fear losing their homes or livelihoods as a result of seeking medical care, especially during such challenging financial times. I want to thank Governor Hochul for signing my bill into law to protect New Yorkers from facing liens on their homes or wage garnishment by medical institutions and debt collectors in their effort to collect medical debt,” said State Senator Gustavo Rivera. “I also want to thank the Community Service Society for their tireless advocacy, which has been critical to pushing this bill over the finish line. We must work together to eradicate medical debt from our State and I am thrilled that we are taking this important first step."  Medical debt is a preposterous practice that should be ended and this law is a critical component in Senator Rivera’s fight to transform our broken, for-profit healthcare system. Senator Rivera urges Governor Hochul to also sign into law his second medical debt-related bill (S.2521C), which passed the Legislature earlier this year and that will regulate how medical providers bill patients for facilities fees and unexpected out-of-network charges.