A bill is progressing through the Maryland legislature that, if passed, would require the state to develop a process that identifies individuals who paid for hospital services that may have otherwise qualified for free care under existing state law and reimburse those individuals for the money they paid. If enacted, …
Read More »January 1 Means New Laws Now in Effect
Along with college football and resolutions, January 1 is also a day when new laws often take effect, and there are some that went into effect that apply to the accounts receivable management industry. At the federal level, the No Surprises Act is now in effect, even though a lawsuit …
Read More »Senators Ask CFPB to ‘Address’ Medical Debt Collection
A group of Senate Democrats are calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to prohibit reporting medical debt collection tradelines to credit bureaus, further limiting the number of communication attempts beyond what is included in Regulation F, and know whether a consumer is appealing the denial of coverage with his …
Read More »Maryland Healthcare Collection Bill Becomes Law
By virtue of not signing it into law or vetoing it while it sat on the governor’s desk for 30 days, healthcare debt collection legislation in Maryland has become law, which, while not as restrictive as it was when it was introduced, will still require healthcare providers and debt collectors …
Read More »Maryland Legislature Passes Medical Collection Bills
The Maryland Senate and House of Representatives each have voted unanimously to approve their own versions of a bill that affect how medical debts are collected, but opponents of the measure were able to get a key provision removed from the bills that would have established a threshold for which …
Read More »State AGs Make Argument To Congress for Broad Student Loan Debt Consolidation
A group of 17 state Attorneys General have written a letter to Congress endorsing a plan that would cancel $50,000 of student loan debt for all federal student loan borrowers. The letter, written by the AGs of Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, …
Read More »Bill Introduced in Maryland to Overhaul Collection of Medical Debts
A bill has been introduced in both Houses of the Maryland state legislature that would create a threshold amount for which collection lawsuits can be filed while also establishing credit reporting guidelines, limiting the fees that can be collected for individuals who qualify for reduced or free medical care, limiting …
Read More »State AGs Line Up Against BCFP to Fight For Public Access to Complaint Database
The new attorney general of New York is picking up the consumer protection battle right where her predecessor left off, and is planning on taking on the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Barbara Underwood, who took over from Eric Schneiderman last month when he resigned abruptly, said she is leading …
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