AB 2297 (Friedman, D-Burbank)
Neutral
Signed by the governor on Sept. 24.
AB 2297 prohibits 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. The bill also reinstates the requirement for patients to pay hospitals when a health insurance company pays a patient directly or a patient receives money from a lawsuit. The bill also allows 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 requires hospitals to make other changes to their financial assistance and billing policies.
SB 1061 (Limón, D-Santa Barbara)
Neutral
Signed by the governor on Sept. 24.
SB 1061 prohibits consumer credit reporting agencies from including medical debt in consumer credit reports and also prohibits 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.