New York S 1857: Establishes a pilot hospital medical debt relief program

Bill Text

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S01857 Summary:

BILL NOS01857 

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SAME ASSAME AS A03580

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SPONSORRIVERA

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COSPNSRBROUK, GOUNARDES, JACKSON, MAY

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MLTSPNSR

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Add Art 2 Title 2-G §§245 & 246, Pub Health L; amd §601, Tax L

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Establishes a three-year pilot hospital medical debt relief program to provide hospital medical debt relief to eligible residents of the state utilizing a not-for-profit organization to identify, acquire and cancel medical debt of such eligible residents directly from health care providers in the state.

Go to top S01857 Actions:

BILL NOS01857 

&nbsp

01/14/2025REFERRED TO HEALTH

04/29/2025REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

01/07/2026REFERRED TO HEALTH

02/09/2026REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

Go to topS01857 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS01857 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS01857 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 1857

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 January 14, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sens. RIVERA, BROUK, GOUNARDES, JACKSON, MAY -- read twice
 and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee
 on Health

 AN ACT to amend the public health law and the tax law, in relation to
 establishing a pilot hospital medical debt relief program

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

 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 2 the "hospital medical debt relief act".
 3 § 2. Article 2 of the public health law is amended by adding a new
 4 title 2-G to read as follows:
 5 TITLE 2-G
 6 HOSPITAL MEDICAL DEBT RELIEF PROGRAM
 7 Section 245. Definitions.
 8 246. Hospital medical debt relief program.
 9 § 245. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall
 10 have the following meanings:
 11 1. "Eligible resident" means an individual that meets the following
 12 conditions:
 13 (a) is a resident of the state;
 14 (b) has a household income at or below four hundred percent of the
 15 federal poverty guidelines or has hospital-based medical debt equal to
 16 five percent or more of the individual's household income; and
 17 (c) has had hospital medical debt relieved under this program.
 18 2. "General hospital medical debt" means an obligation or an alleged
 19 obligation of an eligible resident to pay any amount whatsoever related
 20 to the receipt of health care services, products, or devices provided to
 21 a person by a general hospital licensed under article twenty-eight of
 22 this chapter or a health care professional authorized under title eight
 23 of the education law who practices within a hospital, whether or not
 24 such obligation has been reduced to judgment.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD03442-01-5

 S. 1857 2

 1 § 246. Hospital medical debt relief program. 1. The commissioner,
 2 subject to general fund appropriations for this purpose, shall establish
 3 a three-year pilot program to provide hospital medical debt relief to
 4 eligible residents in the state.
 5 2. Pursuant to sections one hundred twelve and one hundred sixty-three
 6 of the state finance law, the commissioner shall contract with a not-
 7 for-profit organization to identify and cancel the hospital medical debt
 8 owed by eligible residents to hospitals and their contracted providers
 9 located within the state, to the extent possible. Such not-for-profit
 10 organization shall enter into agreements with general hospitals in the
 11 state to identify eligible residents utilizing patient data provided by
 12 such participating hospitals including, demographic information, resi-
 13 dents' zip codes, insurance status and payer, dates of service,
 14 balances still owed, and other information necessary to identify an
 15 eligible resident. The not-for-profit organization shall retire such
 16 eligible residents' hospital medical debt by acquiring such debt through
 17 purchase or receipt as a donation from a participating general hospital
 18 and then cancelling such debt. Any such purchase of hospital medical
 19 debt shall be for an amount at or below the fair market value of such
 20 debt. All data shar