Eight legislative session days to go! That’s it for getting some good health care stuff done before New York State lawmakers adjourn for this year in early June. Here’s one set of bills poised to move ahead to passage:

#EndPatientMedicalDebt:

In recent years, medical debt that simply cannot be paid off by patients has emerged as one of the top concerns for health care consumers, and politicians nationwide are starting to sit up and take notice. Of course, comprehensive solutions (such as universal health care!) are needed to fully resolve the problem, but unfortunately that approach will take more time to develop a head of political steam both in Congress and the State Legislature. In the meantime, there are some steps New York lawmakers are taking to help alleviate the crisis:

Ending Wage Garnishments and Liens on Primary Homes (S.6522/A.7363, Rivera/Gottfried) – All hospitals in New York are legally non-profit charities, yet a small handful of large, well-resourced hospital networks can and do sue patients for outstanding debt, despite the fact that the State provides hospitals with a total of more than $1 billion/year to compensate for indigent care. When a hospital successfully sues a patient, as part of the judgement they can ask the Court to place liens on property and garnish workers’ wages, a practice advocates consider cruel and counterproductive. This bill would prohibit such practices. The good news is that it has passed through both chambers and will soon be sent on to Governor Hochul for her consideration to sign or veto.

Regulating “Facility Fees” (S.2521A/A.3470B, Rivera/Gottfried) – These new charges are something that many hospitals and medical practices are now tacking onto patients’ bills as a “resort charge” for just walking in the door seeking care. (Yet another way to pad their bottom line by sticking it to patients.) Sometimes these fees can be quite substantial depending on the overall amount of a bill. This legislation would a) prevent health care providers from charging these fees for preventive care, and b) require them to notify patients in advance when one is to be charged so that it doesn’t come as a surprise later on. The bill has advanced out of all relevant Committees in both chambers, and is ready for a floor vote.

Modernizing and Standardizing Hospital Financial Assistance Programs (S.7625/A.8441, Rivera/Gottfried) – All hospitals in New York are required by law to offer financial assistance programs to lower-income patients in the form of discount prices for in-patient services, and installment plans to pay down bills over time. However, there is little uniformity in learning about and applying for them, so many patients who could qualify never sign-up and get stuck with sky-high bills instead. This legislation would a) make the financial assistance process transparent and uniform across all facilities, b) streamline the application process without requiring lots of red tape and paperwork, and c) raise the income eligibility level to conform with those of the federal Affordable Care Act. This bill has passed out of all relevant committees in the Senate and is ready for a floor vote, and is now before the Ways and Means Committee in the Assembly after having passed out of the Health Committee.

We urge you to contact your state legislators about these bills since the clock is ticking.

With funding from the New York State Health Foundation, Health Care for All New York, a statewide coalition we help to lead, has been spearheading this multi-year campaign on patient medical debt, and we are proud to be part of the core team for it. In recent years, our campaign has passed bills to:

• Lower the annual interest rate hospitals can charge (if they choose) on outstanding bills to from 9% to 2%.
• Lower the statute of limitation for lawsuits from 6 to 2 years.
• Expand New York’s Surprise Medical Bills Law to cover all emergency room services at in-network rates.