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Bill

SB 952

Health facilities: hospitals; collection of debts; prohibit if hospital is not in compliance with price transparency laws. Creates new act.

2023-2024 Regular Session Introduced by Joe Bellino and 5 co-sponsors

Michigan bill blocks hospital debt collection against non-compliant hospitals, leveraging collection rights to enforce price transparency disclosure requirements.

referred to Committee on Government Operations
#civilprocedure:civilactions #civilprocedure:defenses #civilprocedure:remedies #consumercredit:creditreportsandreportingagencies #healthfacilities:hospitals #healthfacilities:patients
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Bill Summary · SB 952

Legislative bill overview

SB 952 prohibits Michigan hospitals from collecting patient debts through lawsuits, garnishments, or other collection activities unless the hospital complies with state and federal price transparency requirements. The bill creates a new enforcement mechanism linking debt collection practices to transparency law compliance, effectively leveraging collection rights as incentive for hospitals to disclose pricing information to patients.

Why is this important

Hospital billing opacity has become a major consumer protection issue, with patients often unable to know costs before receiving care. This bill directly addresses that problem by making transparency compliance a prerequisite for aggressive debt collection—giving patients potential legal defenses against collection if hospitals haven't met disclosure obligations. The rapid legislative movement (committee approval and floor consideration on same day) suggests bipartisan urgency around hospital accountability.

Potential points of contention

  • Hospital operational impact: Hospitals argue compliance with complex federal price transparency rules is administratively burdensome; restricting collection rights could affect their revenue cycle and ability to recoup costs from uninsured/underinsured patients
  • Scope and enforceability: Unclear how patients would prove non-compliance or invoke this defense in collection proceedings; hospitals may exploit ambiguities in "compliance" definitions across multiple regulatory frameworks
  • Unintended consequences: May pressure hospitals to increase upfront costs or deny care to high-risk patients rather than comply with transparency requirements; could disproportionately harm safety-net hospitals serving vulnerable populations

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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