AB 2297 (Friedman, D-Burbank)
Neutral
Passed the Senate on Aug. 28. The Assembly agreed to Senate amendments on Aug. 29. Pending the governor’s action.
AB 2297 would prohibit hospitals from considering patients’ monetary assets when determining eligibility for financial assistance, imposing a time limit on eligibility, or placing liens on a patient’s real property. Amendments made on Aug. 23 reinstate the requirement for patients to pay hospitals when a health insurance company pays a patient directly or a patient receives money from a lawsuit. Amendments would also allow hospitals to consider certain assets of a Medicare patient when determining eligibility for financial assistance to allow compliance with Medicare bad debt rules. The bill would require hospitals to make other changes to their financial assistance and billing policies.
SB 1061 (Limón, D-Santa Barbara)
Neutral
Passed the Assembly on Aug. 26. The Senate agreed to Assembly amendments on Aug. 28. Pending the governor's action.
SB 1061 would prohibit consumer credit reporting agencies from including medical debt in consumer credit reports and would also prohibit a health care provider from furnishing information regarding a medical debt to a consumer credit reporting agency. The bill also requires hospitals to maintain all documents related to an individual’s medical debt, including litigation documents. Amendments taken in the Assembly Appropriations Committee conform the definition of medical debt to the proposed federal rule.