HB765: HB765 Medical Debt Protection Act; enact

Right now, Georgia law does not set specific limits on how hospitals and other large healthcare facilities can bill patients or collect unpaid medical bills. This bill would add a new section to the state's Fair Business Practices Act of 1975 that creates detailed rules for medical debt. Large healthcare facilities, defined to include hospitals, nursing homes, freestanding emergency departments, and outpatient surgery centers, would have to tell uninsured patients about financial assistance programs, offer payment plans capped at 5 percent of a patient's gross monthly income, and could not charge interest or late fees on medical debt. The bill bans harsh collection tactics like arrest, wage garnishation for disability or unemployment benefits, and home foreclosure. It also blocks credit reporting and lawsuits while a patient's insurance appeal is pending, limits spousal liability for adult family members' medical debt, and lets consumers sue to enforce these protections. The changes would apply once the bill is enacted, and it repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.

• Requires large healthcare facilities to give uninsured patients written notice about medical assistance programs at the time of service and on every billing statement.
• Bans interest, late fees, and prepayment penalties on medical debt and requires payment plans capped at 5 percent of a patient's gross monthly income for debts of $500 or more.
• Prohibits harsh collection tactics such as arrest, home foreclosure, and garnishing wages, disability benefits, or unemployment benefits to collect medical debt.
• Blocks credit reporting, debt collection calls, and lawsuits over medical bills while a patient's health insurance appeal is pending or was pending in the last 60 days.
• Limits who can be held liable for someone else's medical debt, making parents liable for their minor children's bills but barring automatic spousal liability for adult family members.
• Lets consumers sue for injunctive relief if a large healthcare facility or debt collector violates these rules, and voids contract clauses that try to waive these protections.

The bill affects patients and consumers who owe medical debt, especially uninsured and low-income patients; large healthcare facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, freestanding emergency departments, and outpatient surgery centers; and medical debt collectors, medical debt buyers, and consumer reporting agencies that handle unpaid medical bills.

If enacted, Georgia patients could no longer be charged interest on medical bills, would get guaranteed income-based payment plans, and could not be sued, garnished, or reported to credit agencies over debt tied to a pending insurance appeal, changing how hospitals and collectors pursue unpaid healthcare charges statewide.

• Section 2 adds new Code Section 10-1-393.20 to the Fair Business Practices Act, defining terms like 'large healthcare facility,' 'medical debt buyer,' and 'extraordinary collection action.'
• Subsection (b) requires written notices about medical assistance eligibility at time of service and on billing statements for patients treated in emergency departments, admitted to hospitals, or receiving surgery.
• Subsection (c) bars interest and late fees, mandates payment plans capped at 5 percent of gross monthly income for debts of $500 or more, and delays the first payment for at least 30 days.
• Subsection (d) bans specific extraordinary collection actions (arrest, foreclosure, wage or benefit garnishment) and requires 120 days to pass and 30 days' notice before any permitted collection action begins.
• Subsection (e) makes parents jointly liable for a minor child's medical debt but bars automatic spousal liability for an adult's medical or nursing home debt without a separate signed consent.
• Subsection (f) prohibits reporting medical debt to consumer reporting agencies for one year after the first bill, or three months after the last payment plan payment, whichever is later.
• Subsection (g) prohibits credit reporting, collection communications, and lawsuits over unpaid charges while a health insurance appeal is pending or was pending within the last 60 days.
• Subsection (j) allows consumers to sue for injunctive or equitable relief and voids any contract clause that waives these protections before a dispute arises.

1. 2025-03-18House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-13House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-11House Hopper (House)

• Lisa Campbell (D, HD-035)Primary sponsor
• Shea Roberts (D, HD-052)
• Terry Cummings (D, HD-039)
• Esther Panitch (D, HD-051)
• Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
• Mary Williams (D, HD-037)

• medical debt
• hospital billing
• consumer protection
• health insurance appeals
• credit reporting