It may get tougher to collect medical debts, if U.S. Sen. Al Franken gets his way.
The Minnesota Democrat wants to tighten down the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to avoid the kind of alleged abuses that happened at Fairview Health Services in his home state, where collector Accretive Health is being sued by Minnesota’s Attorney General for aggressive collection tactics.
But the impact of Franken’s legislation could be far-reaching. Should Congress sign off on his proposal, medical debt would be treated differently than other debt. Why? According to Franken, medical debt is “unique” in the following ways:
- With very few exceptions, consumers seek out health care services out of medical need, not choice;
- Consumers typically do not know the cost of health care services in advance and are not in a position to negotiate a lower price; and
- Overly aggressive medical debt collection can discourage consumers from seeking needed healthcare services, with dire financial, physical and public health consequences for themselves and their communities.
So what does that mean when it comes to collecting those debts? For one thing, it would prohibit collectors from communicating with a patient about a bill while “critical” medical services are being provided, unless that patient specifically requests the information. Any other communication would be considered harassment.
The measure would also require collectors to prominently disclose the availability of charity care or financial assistance that would help discharge the debt.
If you’d like to read up on the proposed change, check out InsidePatientFinance.com. You can find the text of the bill along with an excellent analysis.