STATE News:
New Mexico Together for Healthcare Tuesday applauded the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance for issuing final medical debt rules that reflect patient and advocate requests to strengthen the draft rules to better protect low-income patients.
The medical debt rules took effect Tuesday and were issued to implement the Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act (PDCPA), which NMT4HC and its community leaders supported and was signed into law earlier this year.
The PDCPA prohibits medical providers and hospitals from suing low-income patients (patients at or below 200 percent of poverty) or sending them to collections for unpaid medical bills. Instead, hospitals and providers will now work with patients to identify possible coverage options and help them apply so that they can resolve the debt.
To ensure the protection from lawsuits or collections remains strong and that low-income patients don’t slip through the cracks, the final rules now include two key protections.
The first requires medical providers and hospitals to check whether a patient has a low income before suing them or sending them to collections.
“Patients should be able to focus on their care and recovery, instead of on medical bills,” Nicolas Cordova said, a staff attorney with the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. “These rules guarantee a low-income patient won’t be forced to sort out their income status in court or with a collection agency. By requiring medical providers and hospitals to determine a patient’s income status before pursuing these aggressive collection actions, the Superintendent of Insurance is reinforcing a fundamental New Mexico value to always put patients first.”
The second important protection in the final rules guarantees that a low-income patient’s protection from being sued or sent to collections lasts for 2 years. After the 2-year protection expires, the medical provider or hospital is still required to determine the patient’s low-income status before suing them or sending them to collections. This protection fixes a loophole in the draft rules that would have left low-income patients vulnerable to being sued or sent to collections immediately after their debt protection expired.
“Extended medical debt protection status gives patients peace of mind,” Cordova said. “Patients will no longer have to decide between getting the healthcare they need or putting food on the table.”
Through rule hearings and the Superintendent of Insurance’s requests for public comment, NMT4HC organization leaders and patients spoke up about the need for changes to the draft rules to better protect New Mexicans.
The rules are available online.
