Senator Gustavo Rivera’s ‘Fair Medical Debt Reporting Act’ Becomes Law

 

State Senator Gustavo Rivera’s ‘Fair Medical Debt Reporting Act’ (S.4907) was signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul. This bill will prohibit medical debt from being collected by a consumer reporting agency or included in a consumer report and prohibits medical service providers from reporting medical debt directly or indirectly to a consumer reporting agency. This is the third bill from Senator Rivera’s legislative package to end medical debt in New York State to become law.  

In New York, communities with high rates of medical debt are predominantly low-income communities, communities of color, and rural communities. A New York poll showed that 41% of New Yorkers have either appealed a medical bill or paid one they don't think they owe for fear of being sued or placed into collections. Medical debt has serious implications on financial stability. A bad credit record can make it impossible for a patient to rent a home, buy a car, or secure a loan for a home repair or educational opportunity.

“I am so grateful to Governor Hochul and our coalition for standing together to relieve New Yorkers from the burden of medical debt's impact on credit reports. The Fair Medical Debt Reporting Act will stop medical debt from damaging patients' financial stability and mitigate the fear of seeking medical care due to cost in our most vulnerable communities. I look forward to working together to eradicate medical debt and ensure quality, affordable healthcare for every New Yorker."

Eradicating medical debt is a key component in Senator Rivera’s fight to transform our for-profit healthcare system, which is affecting more than 100 million Americans nationwide, into a system that puts patients first. In addition to this bill, he is the sponsor of two more medical debt-related bills: 

S5909B/ A6096 - Medical Debt Relief Act: Establishes a three-year pilot medical debt relief program for eligible residents utilizing a not-for-profit organization to acquire and cancel medical debt directly from state health care providers.

S1366A/A6027: Standardizes hospitals' financial assistance policies to make sure low- and moderate-income patients and uninsured patients can access free or discounted care, which hospitals must offer as a condition of receiving Indigent Care Pool funding.