Existing law provides requirements governing the collection of medical debt by a collection agency, including a requirement to provide certain notice to a medical debtor before taking action to collect and prohibiting certain actions to collect a medical debt. (NRS 649.366, 649.368) Sections 14 and 19 of this bill prohibit a health care entity or collection agency from engaging in certain actions, or threatening to engage in certain actions, to collect a medical debt, including: (1) causing the arrest of a consumer; (2) obtaining a lien or foreclosing on real property of a consumer that includes the consumer's primary residence; (3) garnishing any refund of federal income taxes due to a consumer; or (4) garnishing, attaching or seizing the bank account of a consumer. Section 15 of this bill prohibits a health care entity or collection agency from engaging in extraordinary collection actions until at least 180 days after the first bill for a medical debt is sent to a consumer and requires a notice that includes certain information to be sent to the consumer at least 30 days before any extraordinary collection action is taken. Section 6 of this bill defines the term “extraordinary collection action” to mean: (1) selling a medical debt to a collection agency; (2) any action that requires a legal or judicial process except for placing a lien on third party settlements; (3) reporting, furnishing or threatening to report or furnish any information regarding a medical debt to a consumer reporting agency; or (4) garnishing or threatening to garnish the wages of a consumer. Section 15 prohibits a health care entity or collection agency from engaging in extraordinary collection actions when there is a state of emergency, declaration of disaster or public health emergency or other health event in the county in this State in which a consumer resides and tolls any statute of limitations applicable to a claim to recover on a medical debt during the same period. If the state of emergency, declaration of disaster or public health emergency has been declared pursuant to federal law, section 15 limits the duration of the prohibition on extraordinary collection actions to 6 months after the effective date of the declaration of emergency or disaster. Section 16 of this bill provides additional requirements for the collection of medical debts incurred for medical services, medical products or medical devices provided by a health care entity, including: (1) a prohibition on engaging in extraordinary collection actions unless such actions are described in the billing and collection policy of the health care entity; (2) a requirement to reverse any extraordinary collection actions if it is determined that the consumer is eligible for financial assistance that eliminates or would have eliminated the debt; and (3) requiring a consumer to be refunded within 60 days if, after the application of any financial assistance, a consumer had paid an amount in excess of the amount of the medical debt. Section 17 of this bill provides that the protections provided by sections 13-16 cannot be waived. Sections 2.5-12 of this bill define terms related to the collection of medical debts and section 2 of this bill makes those terms applicable to sections 2-18.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 649.368
Reprint 1: 649.368
Reprint 2: 649.368
Reprint 3: 649.368
Reprint 4: 649.368
As Enrolled: 649.368
BDR: 649.368