Lawmakers in Augusta are considering a bill that has the potential to change how medical debt is handled in the State of Maine.
LD 2115 — sponsored by Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) — was introduced earlier this year and subsequently referred to the Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services (HCIFS) Committee.
Under the version of this bill currently being considered by lawmakers, medical debt would not be factored into Mainers’ credit scores, nor would it be subjected to interest or fees from debt collectors. The proposed law would also prohibit debt collectors from pursuing legal action against those responsible for unpaid medical bills.
The original version of this legislation looked markedly different, serving instead to prohibit health care providers from “assign[ing], sell[ing], or otherwise transfer[ing] medical debt to a debt collector for less than the total amount of the debt unless the health care provider has offered the consumer responsible for the debt the opportunity to acquire the debt at the same reduced amount.”
The sponsor’s amendment proposed by Sen. Tipping takes a far broader approach to changing how health care providers and debt collectors handle the medical debt accrued by Mainers.
More specifically, this bill would prevent health care providers and debt collectors from “reporting adverse or negative information related to unpaid medical debt to a consumer reporting agency,” meaning that it would legally prevent unpaid medical expenses from impacting Mainers’ credit scores.
This version of the bill would also block debt-collectors from imposing interest or fees on medical-related debt, as well as from pursuing any type of legal action against the person responsible for such debt.
The law also explicitly states that debt collectors would be prohibited from “making false, deceptive, or misleading representations” about their ability to do any of the above in connection with medical debt that is owed.
The Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection would also be required to produce a report on or before January 1, 2027 detailing the impact of these changes on “consumers’ creditworthiness, access to credit, medical debt burden, and economic stability.
Click Here to Read the Full Text of LD 2115 As Amended
“The purpose of this bill is to protect patients from unfair business practices when they do take on that debt and to mitigate the long-term impacts that such debt can have on them and their families,” Tipping testified to the HCIFS Committee.
“According to Consumers for Affordable Health Care, more than 40% of Mainers have medical debt and that more than two thirds of people would have trouble paying a $500 medical bill in the next thirty days,” Tipping said. “And this debt lingers for most people– of the folks who had taken on medical debt in the past 5 years, 75% of them still had debt to pay off.”
“The issue of crippling medical debt will not be quickly solved, but the intent of this bill and the amendment that I am proposing is to ensure that when people do have debt they are treated fairly and help to prevent that debt from spiraling out of control through unchecked interest and fees,” Tipping said.
Click Here to Read Sen. Tipping’s Full Testimony
According to a divided report released by the HCIFS Committee earlier this month, this legislation has garnered nearly unanimous support from lawmakers, with only one member voting against the amended version of the bill.
Supporting the amended legislation were Sen. Donna Bailey (D-York), Rep. Anne C. Perry (D-Calais), Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin), Rep. Sally Jeane Cluchey (D-Bowdoinham), Rep. Scott Wynn Cyrway (R-Albion), Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio (D-Sanford), Rep. Kristi Michele Mathieson (D-Kittery), Rep. Joshua Morris (R-Turner), Rep. Robert W. Nutting (R-Oakland), Rep. Jane P. Pringle (D-Windham), Sen. Cameron Reny (D-Lincoln), and Rep. Gregory Lewis Swallow (R-Houlton).
The lone vote of opposition to this bill at the time was Rep. Poppy Arford (D-Brunswick).
The Committee has not yet reported out their official recommendation for this bill.
Huh… they forgive college loan debt now, how long until medical debt follows the same course. This sounds like step 1.
It is my understanding that hospitals will work with you on debt so this must be racist debt.
hospitals will go broke. I know they charge crazy amounts but it does cost money to operate. With this law no one will pay. Lack of payments is one of the things that costs us all more.