Bill Text: NY S08373 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Exempts credit card debt from the definition of medical debt unless the credit card is issued under an open-ended or closed-ended plan offered specifically for the payment of health care services, products, or devices provided to a person.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-20 - returned to senate [S08373 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S08373-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         8373--A

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 24, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Consumer  Protection  --
          recommitted to the Committee on Consumer Protection in accordance with
          Senate  Rule  6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the general business law and the public health  law,  in
          relation to the definition of medical debt

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision (v) of section 380-a of  the  general  business
     2  law,  as added by chapter 727 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    (v) The term "medical debt" means any obligation or alleged obligation
     5  of a consumer to pay any amount whatsoever related  to  the  receipt  of
     6  health  care  services,  products,  or  devices  provided  by a hospital
     7  licensed under article twenty-eight of the public health law,  a  health
     8  care  professional authorized under title eight of the education law, or
     9  an ambulance service certified under article thirty of the public health
    10  law. Medical debt does not include debt charged to a credit card  unless
    11  the  credit  card  is  issued  under  an open-ended or closed-ended plan
    12  offered specifically for the payment of health care services,  products,
    13  or devices provided to a person.
    14    §  2. Subdivision 1 of section 4925 of the public health law, as added
    15  by chapter 727 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
    16    1. "Medical debt" means an  obligation  or  alleged  obligation  of  a
    17  consumer  to  pay any amount whatsoever related to the receipt of health
    18  care services, products, or devices provided to a person by  a  hospital
    19  licensed  under  article  twenty-eight  of  this  chapter, a health care
    20  professional authorized under title eight of the  education  law  or  an
    21  ambulance  service  certified  under  article  thirty  of  this chapter.
    22  Medical debt does not include debt charged to a credit card  unless  the
    23  credit  card  is issued under an open-ended or [closed-end] closed-ended
    24  plan offered specifically for  the  payment  of  health  care  services,
    25  products, or devices provided to a person.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13925-02-4
        S. 8373--A                          2

     1    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
     2  have been in full force and effect on the same  date  and  in  the  same
     3  manner as chapter 727 of the laws of 2023 amending the public health law
     4  and  the  general business law relating to prohibiting medical debt from
     5  being collected by a consumer reporting agency or included in a consumer
     6  report, takes effect.