Committee hears broad medical‑debt reform bill; supporters press protections, collectors and hospitals raise concerns

Summary

Senate Bill 317 would restrict common collection practices for medical debt — including wage garnishment, bank‑account attachment and liens on primary residences — require hospitals to screen patients for charity care, and mandate extended payment plans; sponsors said the measure protects vulnerable Hoosiers, while hospital and collection groups urged narrower targeting.

Senator Kadura (sponsor) presented Senate Bill 317, a comprehensive bill aimed at reducing the burden of medical debt in Indiana. The sponsor told the committee that an estimated $2,000,000,000 of medical debt affects Hoosiers and described multiple policy changes in the draft: required hospital charity‑care screening and 24‑month payment plans, prohibitions on wage garnishment and bank‑account attachment for medical debt judgments, restrictions on placing liens on primary residences, and limits on credit‑reporting of medical debt. The sponsor said he worked with stakeholders on amendments and that the measure would be held to allow additional negotiation.

More than a dozen witnesses described both individual hardship and policy rationale. Joyce Fleck and Emily Meyer spoke about family and personal struggles with cancer and chronic illness and about how medical bills eroded financial stability. Advocacy groups — Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, American Cancer Society Cancer Action…

Committee hears broad medical‑debt reform bill; supporters press protections, collectors and hospitals raise concerns

Summary

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