Campaign to End Medical Debt Gains Steam in Cuomo’s State of the State
Amanda Dunker
CSS commends Governor Cuomo for including several pieces of the Patient Medical Debt Protection Act in his 2020 State of the State address. The Patient Medical Debt Protection Act (A8639/S6757) would protect New Yorkers from unfair medical bills and aggressive debt collection practices that contribute to high levels of medical debt and keep patients from getting the care they need.
One of Governor Cuomo’s proposals would require providers to disclose facility fees to patients. Facility fees are not charged for any medical service and are often a surprise for patients. CSS applauds the Governor for working towards transparency around facility fees. CSS also urges the Governor to protect patients from being unfairly charged for these fees at all. Part B of the Patient Medical Debt Protection Act would do just that!
Governor Cuomo also proposes cutting the statute of limitations for providers to sue their patients from six to three years. CSS enthusiastically supports this measure, consistent with Part F of the Patient Medical Debt Protection Act, which would reduce the statute of limitations to two years—the same amount time hospitals get to resolve their disputes with insurance companies. Patients deserve the same protections afforded to hospitals.
Governor Cuomo also proposes to improve New York’s surprise billing protections by prohibiting out-of-network hospitals from balance-billing patients for emergency visits. CSS urges the governor to further protect patients by adopting Part G of the bill, which would protect patients in cases where their provider or plan has provided erroneous information about whether a provider is in-network.
Finally, CSS embraces Governor Cuomo’s proposal to establish a patient-friendly transparency website called NYHealthcare Compare. The website would allow patients to find reliable cost and quality information for planned medical care. It would also help patients understand their rights to financial assistance and to be protected from surprise bills. NYHealthcare Compare would be a huge help to people trying to plan ahead for medical care. CSS urges the Governor to adopt Part D of the Patient Medical Debt Protection Act to make sure that all hospitals fully participate by providing complete and accurate data. NYHealthcare Compare will provide no value to consumers without full participation by hospitals!
The Patient Medical Debt Protection Act also includes provisions that address rampant billing problems experienced by patients, including: simplify hospital medical billing, streamline applications for hospital financial aid, and standardize patient liability waiver forms. Twelve State Senators and 32 Assembly members have already signed on to cosponsor the bill. Learn more and find out how you can support the bill.
Advocate today to end medical debt in New York.
