House Healthcare panel advances S.27 to fund purchase and abolition of medical debt; committee adds debtor notification requirements

The House Healthcare Committee on April 3 advanced draft 1.2 of S.27, an act to fund the purchase and abolition of certain medical debt and to exclude abolished medical debt from consumer credit reports. The committee voted in favor of the draft in a roll-call after a straw‑poll, with 11 members recorded as voting yes.

Committee members said the bill would appropriate $1 million to the state treasurer to contract with a nonprofit to acquire eligible medical debts from health care providers at fair market value and abolish those debts without cost or tax consequence to the debtor. "This is S.27 and [it] relate[s] to medical debt relief and excluding medical debt from credit reports," said Jen Carby, Legislative Counsel, as she explained the strike‑all amendment that reflected the committee's changes.

The amendment added an explicit notice requirement to individuals whose debts are abolished. The notice must include: the amount…