STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
359
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
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Introduced by Sens. RIVERA, JACKSON, KRUEGER, MAY -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to prohibiting state-
operated hospitals from suing patients for medical debt
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 51
2 to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 51
4 PROHIBITION ON STATE-OPERATED HOSPITALS SUING PATIENTS FOR
5 MEDICAL DEBT
6 Section 5100. Prohibition on state-operated hospitals suing patients for
7 medical debt.
8 § 5100. Prohibition on state-operated hospitals suing patients for
9 medical debt. 1. No state university health care facility authorized
10 under article eight of the education law, cancer institute authorized
11 under article ten-C of the public authorities law, or hospital author-
12 ized under section twenty-six hundred of this chapter shall pursue liti-
13 gation in civil or supreme court against a patient for the pursuit of a
14 medical debt.
15 2. For the purposes of this section, the term "medical debt" shall
16 mean an obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay any amount
17 related to the receipt of health care services, products, or devices
18 provided to a person by a hospital licensed under article twenty-eight
19 of this chapter, a health care professional authorized under title eight
20 of the education law or an ambulance service certified under article
21 thirty of this chapter.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00559-01-5
