After a concurrence vote by the New Mexico Senate on Wednesday, The Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act is headed to the governor’s desk where patients hope it will be signed into law to help the thousands of New Mexicans drowning in medical debt.
“Medical debt is the worst thing I’ve ever had to recover from,” said Anna Rondon, a McKinley County mother and grandmother who spent years trying to repair her credit after she was unable to pay unexpected hospital and ambulance bills related to emergency gallbladder surgery. “New Mexicans like me need the Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act so that we can stay healthy without going bankrupt.”
SB 71, sponsored by Sen. Katy Duhigg and carried in the House by Rep. Debbie Armstrong, helps patients avoid devastating medical debt by requiring hospitals, urgent care centers, and other healthcare facilities to work with patients to identify possible coverage options and provide clear billing information. Not only does this requirement help patients pay their medical expenses, it also gives the healthcare facility a reliable payment source, which reduces their uncompensated care costs.
For people living below 200 percent of the poverty level, the bill also prevents healthcare facilities—and third-party medical providers working in those facilities who bill separately—from sending patients to collections or filing medical debt lawsuits against them.
“When medical debt is turned over to collections, a patient’s credit is ruined, preventing them from qualifying for housing, being able to buy a car to drive to work, or to even get a job,” said Nicolas Cordova, an attorney with the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. “Life-saving medical treatment should never lead to devastating debt.”
Rondon is not alone. In New Mexico, thousands of patients are being sued for unpaid medical bills, having their wages garnished, liens placed on their homes, and their credit ruined. Carlsbad Medical Center made national headlines for suing patients who couldn’t pay their bills. Many New Mexico healthcare facilities and debt collectors continue to sue low income patients over unpaid bills.
Medical debt has a devastating impact on the well-being of patients. In fact, one in five Americans is pursued by debt collectors for medical debts, and 59 percent of all negative items on consumer credit reports are due to medical debt.
“New Mexicans literally cannot afford to have the governor veto this bill,” said Adriann Barboa, New Mexico Policy Director for Forward Together Action. “We urge Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to sign the Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act.”
