Patient Credit Protection Act of 2020
This bill prohibits credit reporting agencies from including certain medical debt on a credit report if (1) the consumer was covered by a health insurance plan at the time of the medical event; and (2) the consumer has paid, or is paying as part of a payment plan, the consumer's share of copayments, deductibles, and coinsurance.
Credit reporting agencies are also prohibited from reporting certain debts incurred for unconscionably excessive medical expenses for health care items and services furnished at a hospital participating in Medicare.
The bill also provides for the removal from a credit report of an impairment resulting from a medical debt within 30 days of notification that the consumer (1) has paid in full, or (2) is in regular compliance with a payment plan.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4037 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4037
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect the credit of
patients with substantial medical bills.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 23, 2020
Mrs. Loeffler introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect the credit of
patients with substantial medical bills.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Patient Credit Protection Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. CREDIT PROTECTION FOR PATIENTS.
(a) Information Excluded From Consumer Reports.--
(1) In general.--Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(9) Debts incurred in a collection account with a medical
industry code if, based on information furnished by the
provider of medical treatment--
``(A) the consumer was covered by a health benefit
plan at the time of the event giving rise to the
collection; and
``(B) the collection is for an outstanding balance
after the consumer's share of copayments, deductibles,
and coinsurance owed for medical treatment have been
paid or are being paid as part of a payment plan.
``(10) Debts incurred by a consumer for payment for
unconscionably excessive medical expenses for health care items
and services furnished at a participating hospital (as defined
in section 1867(e)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395dd(e)(2)))--
``(A) without the express written consent of the
provider of the health care items and services; and
``(B) without providing a fair opportunity for the
consumer to challenge or appeal, as defined by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, the cost of the
medical bill or bills for such health care items and
services as unconscionably excessive in the relevant,
private health care market (including in the individual
and group markets) and prevent such reporting for costs
to a consumer reporting agency by the collector of the
debt that the Secretary determines are unconscionably
excessive in the relevant, private health care market
in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary
pursuant to section 2(a)(2) of the Patient Credit
Protection Act of 2020.''.
(2) Guidance.--
(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
(i) the terms ``consumer'', ``consumer
report'', ``consumer reporting agency'', and
``Federal banking agency'' have the meanings
given those terms in section 603 of the Fair
Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a);
(ii) the term ``participating hospital''
has the meaning given the term in section
1867(e)(2) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1395dd(e)(2)); and
(iii) the term ``Secretary'' means the
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(B) Issuance.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in
consultation with the Director of the Bureau of
Consumer Financial Protection, the Federal Trade
Commission, the Federal banking agencies, and the
National Credit Union Administration, shall issue
guidance to carry out paragraph (10) of section 605(a)
of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)),
as added by paragraph (1).
(C) Contents.--The guidance issued under
subparagraph (B) shall provide--
(i) the circumstances under which a
consumer with an outstanding balance for
copayments, deductibles, coinsurance, or other
medical expenses for health care items or
services furnished at a participating hospital
may, before the collector of the debt reports
that balance to a consumer reporting agency,
challenge or appeal the cost of the medical
bill or bills for those health care items and
services as unconscionably excessive in the
relevant, private health care market, including
in the individual and group markets;
(ii) that the determination of whether the
costs described in clause (i) are
unconscionably excessive shall be by the
Secretary made by taking into consideration
information made public by hospitals pursuant
to part 180 of title 45, Code of Federal
Regulations, or any successor regulation;
(iii) a framework for timely resolution if
the costs described in clause (i) are
determined to be unconscionably excessive;
(iv) that in no case shall a consumer
reporting agency be held liable for reporting
information that violates paragraph (10) of
section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
(15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)), as added by paragraph
(1), if they were not furnished with necessary
information or did not have reason to know of
such a violation; and
(v) that debts incurred by a consumer for
payment for unconscionably excessive medical
expenses in the process to challenge or appeal
the cost of the medical bill or bills described
in clause (i) shall not be reported to a
consumer reporting agency until after a
determination of the challenge or appeal has
been made, including if the process keeps
medical debt from being reported to a consumer
reporting agency beyond the a 180-day waiting
period before including medical debt on a
consumer's credit report, at which time if the
medical debt is determined to not be
unconscionably excessive, the debt shall be
immediately made available to the consumer
reporting agency.
(D) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
paragraph shall be interpreted to allow the Secretary
to institute a price structure for the reimbursement of
medical costs.
(b) Removal of Impairment From Medical Debt.--Section 611 of the
Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681i) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(h) Removal of Impairment From Medical Debt.--When notified that
a debt incurred by an individual for payment for medical expenses has
been paid in full or that such an individual is in regular compliance
with a periodic payment plan between the provider and consumer to
settle such debt, any impairment resulting from that debt must be
removed within 30 days.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
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